Negotiate with agric students - Minority to government

The Minority in Parliament has charged the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government to find solutions to the protests by students of the various agric colleges across the country.

It will be recalled that students of the Kwadaso Agriculture College in the Ashanti Region boycotted classes on Tuesday, October 17 as a way of protesting against government’s failure to restore their trainee allowances.

This was a follow up action to picketing at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) a week earlier.

Their demand comes on the heels of the fulfilment of the Akufo-Addo-led government’s promise to restore trainee nurses and teachers allowance.

At a press briefing in Parliament on Wednesday, October 18, Ranking Member of the Food and Agriculture Committee, Eric Opoku, called on government to immediately negotiate with the students if funds are not readily available.

“What the students from the Agricultural institutions are demanding is genuine [that the NPP promised to restore allowance]. We are three; from health, education and agriculture. You have done for health, you have done for education why not agriculture?” he questioned.

According to him, the President, Nana Akufo-Addo, and Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, have been trumpeting that they will create jobs through agriculture for the teeming youth of the nation.

He highlighted that for government’s Planting for Food and Jobs Programme to be successful, a lot of extension officers are needed to educate farmers on modern methods of farming to enhance output.

“We (Minority) are worried. Why is government toying with agricultural students in the country?” he quizzed, emphasizing that: “Government should negotiate with the students if they don’t have the capacity to meet their needs.”