ALL schools need to teach agriculture subjects to ensure the sector’s future, a central Victorian advocate says.
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Arnold primary producer Carly Noble wants all schools to introduce agriculture subjects as electives in years 7 through to 12 in Victoria.
It is a time of uncertainty in parts of the sector, Mrs Noble said, noting the dairy industry has declined and there are pests and diseases affecting horticulture.
She feared that not enough children were being prepared to face future challenges.
“You’ve got all of these issues that we really should be talking about in schools so that kids are up to date,” Mrs Noble said.
Her calls were triggered by frustration her children would not be able to easily build the skills they wanted for their anticipated careers.
“When we were looking at agricultural secondary schools, and what was available for us, there were schools there but they were really expensive,” Mrs Noble said.
“They had high tuition costs per semester, which we didn’t have the money for. Then we looked at standard secondary schools and most of them didn’t offer agriculture, which drove us around the bend.”
Mrs Noble said agriculture subjects should be available in every school, regardless of whether they were in metropolitan or rural areas, so that children understood what a career in the sector could offer them.
Victorian Farmers Federation workplace relations committee chair Meg Parkinson said parents and teacher groups might not be aware they needed to push to ensure more agriculture in classrooms.
“It really comes down to what the school is aiming to do and we would certainly encourage parents and teacher groups to start pushing that they want their kids to learn about the place of agriculture in Australian society and the economy,” she said.
She encouraged schools and teachers who wanted to know where to get started to seek out information and lesson plans from groups like the Primary Industries Education Foundation.
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