Background

Food security means having, at all times, both physical and economic access to sufficient food to meet dietary needs for a productive and healthy life.

Food security continues to be a global issue and Trinidad and Tobago is not immune to the myriad of challenges associated with becoming a food-secured nation.

At the primary school level, the use of school gardens to promote cross-curricular integration provides students with opportunities to explore food production in a more hands-on way, making the experience a more meaningful one for all involved.

However, many teachers continue to teach in silos and often relegate Agricultural Science to a theoretical exercise, confined to a textbook and a classroom. Little or no emphasis is placed on promoting food production and food security in practical ways. Further, with the return to a physical school, many teachers expressed concern for the readjustment of students to the physical classroom, yet few opportunities are provided for these students to engage in practical projects that support group efforts and promote collaboration and shared responsibilities.

Competition Information

This competition is aligned to the goals as outlined in the Vision 2030 National Development Strategy 2016 to 2030. Food security is an imperative partly because of the need to ensure that the country is able to produce most of the food it consumes itself through sustainable agriculture.

To encourage the growth of food and the promotion of innovation and entrepreneurship in agriculture, at the primary school level.
To promote skill development among students in the area of agriculture
To promote World Food Day which is observed on October 16^th annually.

Competition Guidelines

The objectives of the competition are as follows:

Schools can register for the competition using the Microsoft Forms link provided.
Deadline date for Registration March 31^st 2023.
Schools should have a kitchen garden, at least one innovative product and one value-added product per school.
Technical Guidance: Technical advice sessions will be conducted with schools virtually during the period March 20^th to March 24^th 2023
Final Judging: School’s kitchen garden: June 5^th to June 23^rd2023
Displays, products and portfolios: June 5^th to June 23^rd 2023
Student submissions should be completed utilizing the portfolio template document (Portfolio Template). Portfolios should reflect activities completed by students in the development of the project.
Schools can submit entries from any number of classes in the school.

Rubrics

Scoring Rubric – Rubric Link
Suggested Implementation Plan for Schools –IEAT 2023

Submissions

Upload format: Schools are to follow the portfolio development template and convert the document to PDF and send via email to the email address provided below:

File name: Name of school.Level.IEAT23

For Example: SunnyhillGovtPrimary.Infants.IEAT23

Please send PDFs to the following email address: vishal.ramjattan@moe.gov.tt