Farming high schools in all regions pushed

To boost productivity and technology dissemination in the country’s neglected agricultural sector, a lawmaker wants to create a Philippine Agriculture High School (PAHS) system with secondary schools on farming in each of the country’s regions.

“One way to increase the capacity of the country for agriculture is to promote agricultural education as early as in secondary school,” said Cavite Rep. Aniela Bianca Tolentino, a niece of Sen. Francis Tolentino, who has made a similar proposal in the Senate.

In House Bill No. 10324, or the proposed “Philippine Agricultural High School System Act of 2024,” the 28-year-old lawmaker sought initial funding of P500 million to integrate the new system with already existing farming high schools.

READ: Lawmaker wants elementary kids to learn agriculture skills

Tolentino said that Republic Act No. 10618, or the “Rural Farm Schools Act,” already tasks the Department of Education (DepEd) to encourage the creation of at least one public rural farm school in every province.

According to her, a new agricultural high school system could add focus to the farming sector by integrating already existing farming schools and hastening technology transfer, especially in areas with little state university assistance.

She pointed out that the draft measure would “promote the establishment of a complete, adequate and integrated national system of education for the agriculture sector.”

DA, DepEd to supervise

In her bill, Tolentino cited World Bank data showing that the Philippine agricultural sector employs 23 percent of the Filipino workforce, but national food security is now threatened due to years of neglect.

The PAHS system would be placed under the joint supervision of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and DepEd, which would prescribe guidelines and policies on the operation and management of agricultural schools as well as basic curricula content to ensure their credibility and academic integrity.

Under the draft measure, a board of regents would primarily determine the site of the PAHS main campus and the agricultural high schools to be established in the towns, cities, and provinces.

The board would also set the criteria for the selection and admission of students and approve the grant of scholarships.

The sought-after P500 million would be used to establish and organize the school system, and subsequent funding would be included as a separate item in the DA budget.