The City of Delta is creating a couple of new scholarship programs for farmers.
Council recently approved creating a Delta Agriculture Post-Secondary Scholarship Program in the amount of $2,000 for 2021, as well as a Delta Agriculture Continuing Education Scholarship Program also in the amount of $2,000.
The idea of the scholarships was raised by the Agricultural Advisory Committee earlier this year.
A staff report notes that Agriculture Post-Secondary Scholarship Program would be geared towards graduating Grade 12 students intending to seek post-secondary education related to an agricultural or related field. It’s to be awarded to one student.
The Agriculture Continuing Education Scholarship Program is to be an adjunct to the Agriculture Post-Secondary Scholarship Program and would be intended to support agriculture-related education and training for mature students in Delta with an agricultural background including farms.
“Agriculture represents an important economic component in Delta which has a tradition of generational farm families with local knowledge and expertise. Agricultural Post-Secondary and Continuing Education Scholarship Programs would benefit agriculture in Delta by encouraging the expansion of agriculture education for both graduating Grade 12 students and mature students,” the report states.
Currently, Delta has a Heritage Advisory Commission Scholarship Program and a Trades and Technical Careers Scholarship Program, which are administered by the heritage and parks commissions respectively.
Multi-year funding for the new scholarships will be referred to a city budget workshop for further consideration.
