The Ministry of Education is to develop agribusiness achievement standards for senior students in
New Zealand secondary schools.
The decision was announced on Thursday at St Paul’s Collegiate School in Hamilton, along with the opening of the school’s state-of-the-art learning space purpose built for agribusiness.
St Paul’s, DairyNZ, Beef + Lamb NZ and other primary industries experts have been working together since 2013, to develop an innovative agribusiness teaching and learning programme the ministry is now finalising.
Deputy headmaster Peter Hampton says the ministry’s involvement is the next step towards agribusiness being available to all secondary schools in 2018, after an official trial in select schools in 2017.
SKILLS SHORTAGE
St Paul’s identified the need for more targeted primary industries education in secondary schools when DairyNZ released alarming figures about the sector’s skills shortage.
“Three years ago DairyNZ identified a major skills shortage in the agribusiness sector with research showing that the industry needed 1250 tertiary qualified workers entering the sector each year,” says Peter.
“The Government’s target of doubling New Zealand’s primary sector exports by 2025 in itself will require about 25,000 more graduates, according to MPI figures.”
Less than 200 students graduated from university agribusiness-related courses in 2013, ringing alarm bells for St Paul’s and industry experts.
“When universities are struggling to attract students into agribusiness-related courses it reflects the careers advice and education that students are receiving at the secondary school level,” says Peter.
“By introducing academically rigorous agribusiness courses to secondary school students, more of New Zealand’s brightest young minds will become inspired by the opportunities available in the sector and realise that career prospects go beyond the farm gate.
“They can become food scientists, marketers, business professionals, economists, technicians or the CEO of one of New Zealand’s major agribusiness companies – the possibilities are endless.”
The agribusiness achievement standards will be a NZ first.
