Lectures at Sustainable Agriculture for Rural Development Institute (SARD) have Emphasized on Agri – Parental Training as their Students Start the End-term Examination
By Baraka John
Sustainable Agriculture for Rural Development Institute (SARD) emphasizes Agri- parenteral training so as to improve agricultural production and marketing in South Sudan.
SARD institute is an initiative of the Catholic Diocese of Tambura Yambio (CDTY) initiated in 2021 in Mopoi, the aim is to have a peaceful, food-security, and economically enabled society through improved modern sustainable agriculture for rural development
At least twenty-four students studying agricultural courses at the Sustainable Agriculture for Rural Development Institute (SARD) in Yambio have begun a two weeks examination on the morning of Monday 20th March 2023.
According to the training coordinator for SARD institute, Mr. Marcelo Constantino Bokuyo, the students sitting for the end-term examination are those who enrolled in June and August 2022 intake.
“Second-year students are now going on with their final examination in order to move third year, and then third-year students will be promoted to fourth year. The fourth year will go for attachment for two months then they will come back around August and train for one month then have their final exams”. Mr. Constantino said explained.
Mr. Constantino said after completing their exams, the institute will attach the fourth-year students to agricultural institutes to enable them to acquire more knowledge.
“They will go and work practically in the field, it’s just like on-the-job training so as to acquire more experience in agriculture, so they will work tirelessly using their hands and then using the knowledge we have given them here and amalgamated with the knowledge they will get in the field, tutors will be going from time to time to assess them in the field of their deployment”, the SARD training coordinator stated.
Mr. Marcelo added that for the two-month internship, the Diocese will invite a Catholic University to give an external examination to the fourth-year students and after that, they will be awarded the certificate.
The SARD institute has three agriculture courses, which include,16 months, 6 months, and 1-6 weeks courses.
Currently, the institute operates at St Augustine Parish in Yambio.
The institute has established a demonstration farm at St. Augustine Parish of about one hectare which has been divided into small plots of 150m square per student for practical taring.