Graduates see their future in the field and microenterprise

Ecuadornews:

Sow, care, weed. The interest in the nursery of the school arises from his daily life. Angelica Taipe, 15, works with her aunt in a strawberry plantation near Yaruquí. That’s why she dedicates herself and enjoys working in the field, which is part of her baccalaureate. 

The young woman is one of 27 423 students, of 302 educational units nationwide, that offer Agricultural Technical Baccalaureate (BTA). According to the Ministry of Education, this allows young people to expand their opportunities for employment or develop their own ventures. Cultivation of fish, molluscs and crustaceans; Conservation and management of natural resources, Industrialization of food products and Agricultural production are the professional figures of the BTA. 

The training modules cover competences related to agricultural and livestock production or livestock, linked to the rural environment and related production chains. It is Wednesday at the Eduardo Salazar Gómez School, in Pifo. This is the only institution with BTA that belongs to the Metropolitan District of Quito. 

There, Angelica, together with her partner Tatiana Yanacayo, takes care of the nursery with short-cycle plants such as medicinal and ornamental plants. After leaving school, Tatiana wants to go to college and graduate from agronomy. She would also like to work in a plantation. Ensures that by then you can have a supervisory position, since now you are trained for that. 

Professor Ramiro Toapanta points out that the BTA develops competencies for young people to take on middle management when leaving school. The boys, he says, are trained to access a job if they cannot enter the university. His aspirations are in agronomic engineering, veterinary medicine, agro-food, agribusiness, among others. 

From school, the boys have a work plan or even work in the field, with their family. But do not rule out going to the ‘U’. “I’m going to be a veterinarian,” says Lady Carrillo. The young woman takes care of the rabbits and the guinea pigs. Account that feeds them with alfalfa and balanced. At 18, she knows in detail what are the types of guinea pigs and the management for their reproduction. Together with her companions she takes care of ‘weaning’ the newborns when they arrive at 15 days. How? Put them in another pose to continue their growth and nutrition. 

The curriculum establishes that, out of the 45 weekly hours of class, in third year of high school, students receive 20 subjects of the common core such as Physics, History or Mathematics and 25 of the Technical Baccalaureate. 

In teaching, practices that promote “learning by doing” are applied, as detailed in the methodology proposed by the Ministry of Education. For the BTA it is specified that the teacher must master the contents established in the training modules, in relation to the agricultural area. 

In addition, you must know the regulations of quality, safety and production practices. Iván Flores is an engineer. Teaches about the production of Andean vegetables or crops and about the biological processes of fruit species to second and third year high school students. Dressed in white, Belén Torres makes molds to make cheese, in the production plant of the school of Pifo. 

The girl graduated and will receive one more year of classes to specialize in the production of cheese, yogurt and desserts. His parents have dairy cows. He longs to build her own enterprise, close to home. She will do so at the end of the additional school year that BTA graduates can take, who take up the Technical Productive Baccalaureate at that institution. There the first promotion of 20 boys is formed. 

In the country, 26% of tax centers with a technical baccalaureate have an agricultural focus. The majority is located in Manabí, with 42 centers, which represent 14%. They are followed by Loja (11%), Esmeraldas (10%), Guayas (6%), Los Ríos (6%) and El Oro (6%). (I)

Source: https://www.elcomercio.com/actualidad/bachilleres-futuro-campo-microempresa-agricultura.html