CHIEF executive officer at National Irrigation Commission Joseph Gyles is recommending that education about irrigation be broadened at secondary-level institutions to encourage better use of the system across the populace.

“I believe in the secondary school, they have agricultural programmes. I believe that if we should start to introduce it at that level, and go right up to the college level, we can get meaningful impact. If you go to the secondary schools, the only thing you’ll hear about irrigation is that grass stops water from flowing,” he said at a Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange this week.

Noting that irrigation is far more important, he said, “If they have even a part of the curriculum that speaks to irrigation; that you can get in six – 10 hours [of teaching], and get them exposed to it, I believe you will have a number of persons who would choose it as a career path.”

Going even further, co-chairman of Food Security and Agribusiness Council (FSAC) Matthew Lyn told editors and reporters on the virtual exchange, “I would start that thinking at the pre-school level. Partially, that is because I have a three-year-old and one-year-old, and my night-time stories with them are about saving the planet, recycling, water management, and waste management and they find it fascinating at that age.” He added that there are a lot of books and videos about climate change designed for children.

“We all have a part to play, whether as a direct user, a consumer or as a future decision-maker, businessman, policymaker, media entity, so I would say that the earlier we can get it into our education system, the thinking about not just water, but overall sustainability and climate change, I think the better we will all be as a people,” he charged.

Pointing to education about water management, project manager for the water project at JN Foundation Omar Wright said, “From 2017 we have been doing a number of things under the water project to respond to the challenges that Jamaica has been facing that have been brought on by climate change, especially as it relates to water. Education is a big part of our thrust to get water conservation messages out.”

The foundation, he said, has partnered with HEART/National Service Training Agency (NSTA) Trust, and the University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech) in a public education thrust.

JN Foundation signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with HEART in July to facilitate students enrolled in the institution’s construction and plumbing programmes to be trained in rainwater harvesting and grey water recycling.

The MOU will also facilitate research to be conducted, particularly in the areas of sustainable development, climate change, energy efficiency, and related subject matters relating to water, housing, and land management. That would include drainage systems, natural storage of water, and irrigation techniques, which would mitigate the effects of both drought and flooding.

Meanwhile, in February another MOU was signed with UTech to foster training more people in water adaptation as one of the solutions to address the country’s drought challenges.