Israel injects tech into agri scheme

Israel injects tech into agri scheme | Daily Tribune

A vocational training organization in Israel centered on a high-tech ecosystem is eyeing partnering with the Philippines’ private and public sectors to mold Filipino students to be ready for career-ready and adapt to technology and an innovation-oriented future.

ORT, which strongly focuses on science and technology, is the largest education network operating in Israel and is funded by the Ministry of Education.

They incorporate the latest technology and advanced instruction into the schools’ curricula through formal and informal educational programs and provide them access to high-level science, technology, engineering, art, and math education.

According to Alona Kletsel, ORT head of International Business Development and Marketing, ORT is the first in Israel to prepare a roadmap and implement artificial intelligence in education and pedagogy, as well as the first in their home country to integrate virtual reality in education.

She said they are currently supporting vocational colleges and around 220 secondary schools, further describing the organization as “very agile and very quick in adopting new technologies.”

Efficient model

During the ORT delegation’s one-week-long visit to the Philippines, ORT had meetings with officials from the government and private sector, such as training and teaching institutions, as well as some civil society and non-governmental organizations.

In a roundtable discussion in Taguig City, it was discussed that this Israel education model addresses challenges not only in employability and skill development but also in agriculture, which Kletsel said is “a very important topic not only for the Philippines but in general.”

“It is very important to continue developing agriculture. We have [an] agri-tech curriculum in which we implement drone technologies, GPS, and other technologies,” she said, adding that the curriculum is successfully used in Israel and Azerbaijan.

“We believe we could implement similar curricula in the Philippines in collaboration with the leading high-tech companies that operate in the agri-tech field,” she added.

Moreover, Kletsel said they were made aware of the current situation, wherein young Filipinos do not want to pursue careers in agriculture.

“What we heard from the colleges, universities, and other officials whom we met is that these days the young population doesn’t want to work in agriculture. So, what I suggest is rebranding the agri-tech culture in line with the current technological trends and [making] it more attractive,” she said.

We have [an] agri-tech curriculum in which we implement drone technologies, GPS, and other technologies.

“Through such technologies as drones and others, expose the children from the school bench or in the college to these technologies and attract younger population to work in this field. And we believe that we can address this challenge,” she said.

Innovation leader

Israel is a leading technological hub globally because it innovates in the fields of information and communication technologies, defense and medicine, among others.

They are also known for practicing sustainable agriculture through smart farming and agriculture technologies such as drip irrigation, robotics, water recycling, biopesticides, and biofertilizers.

“This is something we [have been] talking [about] for a long time, but now we are talking about [it] from a different angle, which is more the angle of educating or preparing future farmers and showing them that you can do it very, very differently,” Israel’s Ambassador to the Philippines, Ilan Fluss, said.

“Because the interesting thing when you do this training is when people become leaders of change. It brings a very different [perspective] from being looked down upon as a sector [that] is not interesting, which is very bad. Suddenly, you become a leader of change; you use technologies, and you are looked up to,” he added.