St. Kitts and Nevis Teachers United in Agriculture and moving forward in an Agricultural Economy.
Agriculture is on the main staples of St. Kitts and Nevis. With this in mind Central School Farm was established to accommodate students from the various schools in the federation. Its aim is to help students develop the requisite skills values and attitudes necessary for success in the field of agriculture. ”
The Central School Farm Project was established in 1990 and caters to fourth and fifth form students, mainly from the secondary schools in St. Kitts. However students from secondary schools on Nevis (C.S.S. and G.S.S) do make several visits to perform special activities related to the CSEC S.B.A programme in Agricultural Science. Students from the lower forms also do make periodic visits to practice special activities as outlined in the Agricultural Science Syllabus.
The school farm is known to be successful over the past years because of the impressive record. Shown in all areas of the (CXC) Syllabus. The school farm in 3.86 acres in size, where land is shared among the five (5) secondary schools namely; Cayon High, Verchilds High, Sandy Point High, Basseterre High and Washington Archibald High School and also the Special Education Unit.
Objectives
- To provide students with agricultural science skills so as to stimulate self employment
- To provide students with skills in order to gain employment in the field.
- To create a more oriented programme.
Goals
- To build self esteem
- To encourage more students in secondary
- schools to pursue Agriculture Science as one of their main subject
- To organize Spelling B and quiz competitions
- To teach students how to construct propagation houses/nurseries
School Farm Activities
The activities done can be classified as practical training skills. These enable students to have the
knowledge and “know how” necessary to perform successfully in the agriculture field.
Students engage in such activities as
- Land preparation using the appropriate tools Planting of seeds and transplanting of seedlings.
- Application of chemicals to crops using different methods, especially fertilizer application.
- Implementation of control techniques without the use of chemicals thus ensuring that vegetables are chemical free.
- Employment of weed control in crop plots by using mulching techniques Feeding of livestock (birds & rabbits) and collecting and cleaning eggs.
- Record keeping for CXC School Based Assessment (SBA’s).