ibironkeeniola 
The Lagos State Government says it is set to kick-off the 2020 Agricultural Youth Empowerment Scheme (Agric-YES) Summer School Programme for students of public senior secondary schools in the state.
The programme, scheduled to begin Monday 17th August, will span the six education districts in the state.
Acting Commissioner for Agriculture, Ms Abisola Olusanya made the disclosure to journalists on Wednesday.
For this year’s edition, Olusanya said students, education officials and teachers have been grouped into batches in line with safety guidelines for the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The acting commissioner explained that the empowerment programme seeks to ensure that senior secondary school students in Lagos start to leverage the opportunities abound in agribusiness.
She added that the two-week programme, expected to end on August 29, is also geared at encouraging students to consider a career in agriculture post-secondary school.
The Agric-YES Summer School Programme is an annual long-vacation scheme designed for Senior Secondary School II students who take Agricultural Science as a subject.
Agricultural Science teachers across the six education districts also participate in the programme.
The commissioner explained, “The Agric-YES Summer School Programme was first implemented in 2011 to further stimulate the interest and awareness in Agriculture amongst students in public senior secondary schools across the six education districts in Lagos State.
“The programme aims to serve as a ‘taster’ programme for students who may wish to pick up a career in the agricultural value chain in the future and eventually fill the vacuum being created by ageing farmers.”