Education and Training Committee
Inquiry into agricultural education and training in Victoria
ORDERED TO BE PRINTED
November 2012 by Authority
Victorian Government Printer
Parliamentary paper
No.196 Session 2010–2012
Parliament of Victoria Education and Training Committee Inquiry into agricultural education and training in Victoria This report is also available at www.parliament.vic.gov.au/etc Printed on 100% recycled paper
ISBN ISBN
978-0-9871154-2-3 978-0-9871154-3-0 Electronic
ii
Contents
Contents ..............................................................................................................................iii List of figures......................................................................................................................xi List of case studies...........................................................................................................xiii Committee membership ....................................................................................................xv Functions of the Committee.............................................................................................xvi Terms of reference............................................................................................................xvi Chair’s foreword ..............................................................................................................xvii Executive summary ......................................................................................................... xix List of recommendations................................................................................................. xxv Glossary ..........................................................................................................................xxxi Chapter 1: Introduction .......................................................................................................1
- 1.1
- The scope of this Inquiry .............................................................................................3
1.1.1 Terms of reference...........................................................................................3 1.1.2 What types of agricultural education and training is the Committee reviewing?........................................................................................................3
1.1.3 What is agriculture? .........................................................................................3 An overview of the Victorian agriculture sector............................................................4 An overview of agricultural education and training in Victoria......................................5 The context for this Inquiry..........................................................................................7 1.4.1 Skills shortages in agriculture...........................................................................7 1.4.2 A sector undergoing change.............................................................................8 1.4.3 Demand for agricultural education and training ..............................................10 1.4.4 The benefits of agricultural education and training .........................................11 1.4.5 The policy context ..........................................................................................12
Schools................................................................................................12
1.2 1.3 1.4
Vocational education and training ........................................................12 Higher education..................................................................................13
1.4.6 What other work has been done in this area? ................................................13 The Inquiry process...................................................................................................15 Outline of this report..................................................................................................15
1.5 1.6
Chapter 2: Attracting people to agricultural careers and agricultural education and training......................................................................................................17
- 2.1
- Aspiration for agricultural careers..............................................................................18
2.1.1 What type of people do we need to attract to agriculture?..............................18
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Inquiry into agricultural education and training in Victoria
2.1.2 Factors influencing aspiration for agricultural careers.....................................19
The image of agriculture.......................................................................20 Awareness of agricultural careers ........................................................26 Influences on student career choices ...................................................30 Resources about agricultural careers...................................................35 Career pathways within the agriculture sector......................................38 Working conditions and remuneration in the agriculture sector.............39
- 2.2
- Lifting the agricultural workforce’s participation in agricultural education and
training......................................................................................................................41
2.2.1 The agriculture sector’s attitude to formal education and training...................41 2.2.2 The cost of training.........................................................................................42 2.2.3 The absence of a requirement to hold formal qualifications............................43 2.2.4 Aligning training with the needs of the agriculture sector................................44 2.2.5 Increasing the agriculture sector’s engagement in education and training –
The Committee’s view ...................................................................................45
Chapter 3: Teaching Victorian school students about agriculture.................................47
3.1 3.2
Why agricultural education in schools matters...........................................................48 Agricultural education in the curriculum.....................................................................49 3.2.1 Agriculture and the VELS...............................................................................49
An overview of the VELS......................................................................49 How agriculture is currently taught in primary schools..........................50 How agriculture is currently taught in secondary schools .....................51 Enhancing agricultural education under the VELS – The Committee’s view......................................................................................................53
3.2.2 Agriculture and the Australian Curriculum ......................................................53 Agriculture in the senior secondary certificates .........................................................56 3.3.1 Agriculture in the Victorian Certificate of Education........................................56
The study design of VCE Agricultural and Horticultural Studies............56 Enrolments in VCE Agricultural and Horticultural Studies.....................57 Challenges with VCE Agricultural and Horticultural Studies .................59
3.3.2 Agriculture and the VET in Schools program..................................................62
An overview of agriculture in the VET in Schools program ...................62 Enrolments in the VET in Schools program..........................................64 Challenges with the VET in Schools program.......................................67
Agricultural education programs in schools...............................................................69 3.4.1 Primary school programs ...............................................................................69
The Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program.............................71 Picasso Cows ......................................................................................71
3.3 3.4 iv
Contents
City Kids Experiencing Country Life .....................................................72
3.4.2 Secondary school programs...........................................................................72
Cows Create Careers...........................................................................72 The Primary Industry Centre for Science Education .............................73 Partnerships between schools, industry and the community.................74
3.4.3 Enhancing agricultural education programs in Victorian schools – The
Committee’s view...........................................................................................78
- 3.5
- Agricultural high schools ...........................................................................................80
3.5.1 Agricultural high schools in other Australian jurisdictions ...............................80
Western Australia.................................................................................81 New South Wales.................................................................................81 South Australia.....................................................................................82
3.5.2 Victoria’s specialist high schools………………………………………...............82 3.5.3 An agricultural high school for Victoria? ........................................................ 84
Chapter 4: Education, training and support for Victorian school teachers ...................85
4.1 4.2 4.3
Why teachers matter.................................................................................................86 The demand for agriculture teachers in schools........................................................87 Teacher training and professional learning................................................................88 4.3.1 Pre-service teacher training............................................................................88
Training as a specialist agriculture teacher...........................................88 Exposure to agricultural education for all pre-service teachers.............89 Improving pre-service teacher training – The Committee’s view........... 90
4.3.2 Teacher professional learning ........................................................................91
Professional learning for agriculture teachers.......................................91 Professional learning in agriculture for teachers across the curriculum ............................................................................................91 Professional learning for ‘out of field’ agriculture teachers....................93 Improving teacher professional learning – The Committee’s view ........ 93
Teaching resources...................................................................................................94 4.4.1 What makes an effective teaching resource?.................................................94 4.4.2 Resources for VCE Agricultural and Horticultural Studies ..............................95 4.4.3 Resources for agricultural education across the curriculum............................96 School farms.............................................................................................................98 4.5.1 The benefits of school farms ..........................................................................98 4.5.2 Resourcing school farms................................................................................99 4.5.3 Assisting schools without farms to provide practical agricultural
4.4 4.5 experiences..................................................................................................100
4.5.4 Animal ethics requirements in schools .........................................................102
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Inquiry into agricultural education and training in Victoria
Chapter 5: The delivery of vocational education and training for the agriculture sector..............................................................................................................105
- 5.1
- An overview of agricultural training in the VET sector..............................................106
5.1.1 VET training pathways for the agriculture sector .......................................... 106
Studying with a registered training organisation ................................. 106 Traineeships ......................................................................................107 Recognition of prior learning...............................................................108
5.1.2 Agricultural qualifications and courses in the VET sector ............................. 108 5.1.3 Participation in agricultural VET ...................................................................109
Agricultural training enrolments and completions ............................... 110 Traineeship commencements and completions.................................. 114 Recognition of prior learning assessments......................................... 115
Delivery challenges for agricultural VET..................................................................115 5.2.1 Thin markets in agricultural VET ..................................................................115 5.2.2 The cost of delivering agricultural VET.........................................................118 5.2.3 The language, literacy and numeracy levels of agricultural students in the
VET sector ...................................................................................................120
Increasing participation in agricultural VET .............................................................121 5.3.1 The cost of training.......................................................................................121
A cost-sensitive sector .......................................................................121 Access to government-subsidised training under the Victorian
5.2 5.3
Training Guarantee ............................................................................122
5.3.2 The availability of agricultural VET across Victoria ....................................... 126 5.3.3 Increasing agricultural traineeship completion rates..................................... 129 5.3.4 Pathways from higher education to VET.......................................................130 Ensuring VET meets the needs of the agriculture sector......................................... 131 5.4.1 Is agricultural VET meeting the needs of the agriculture sector?.................. 131 5.4.2 VET that meets the needs of the agriculture sector...................................... 133
The need for flexibility ........................................................................133 Qualifications or skill sets? .................................................................134 RPL that meets industry needs ..........................................................136 A training package that meets industry needs.................................... 138 Specific areas of training need ...........................................................138 Engagement between the agriculture sector and the VET sector ....... 141
5.4.3 Data on agricultural VET ..............................................................................146
5.4
Chapter 6: Agricultural colleges and the VET workforce..............................................149
- 6.1
- Victoria’s agricultural colleges.................................................................................150
6.1.1 The role of the agricultural colleges..............................................................151
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6.1.2 The facilities and programs at the agricultural colleges ................................ 151
Overview of the facilities and programs..............................................151 Stakeholder views on the facilities and programs............................... 152
6.1.3 The future of Victoria’s agricultural colleges .................................................154 6.1.4 The future of the agricultural colleges – The Committee’s view.................... 155 Agriculture teachers in the VET sector ....................................................................156 6.2.1 Attracting and retaining VET agriculture teachers......................................... 156
Barriers to attracting and retaining VET agriculture teachers.............. 157 Strategies to attract and retain more VET agriculture teachers........... 157
6.2.2 The quality of VET teaching for the agriculture sector .................................. 158
Industry currency................................................................................159 Teaching qualifications.......................................................................160 Administrative demands on VET teachers..........................................161 Improving VET teacher quality – The Committee’s view..................... 161
6.2
Chapter 7: The current higher education landscape.....................................................163
- 7.1
- Agricultural higher education in Victoria ..................................................................164
7.1.1 Why agricultural higher education matters....................................................164 7.1.2 Agriculture courses offered by higher education providers in Victoria.......... 165
La Trobe University............................................................................166 Marcus Oldham College.....................................................................166 Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE................................................167 The University of Melbourne...............................................................167 The University of Ballarat ...................................................................168
Enrolments in agricultural higher education courses ...............................................169 7.2.1 Data on agricultural higher education...........................................................169 7.2.2 Enrolments and completions in agricultural higher education courses.......... 170
Enrolments.........................................................................................170 Completions.......................................................................................171
7.2
7.2.3 The impact of declining enrolments in agricultural higher education courses ........................................................................................................172
The impact of declining agriculture enrolments on higher education providers ............................................................................................172
The impact of declining agriculture enrolments on the agriculture sector.................................................................................................173
The impact of declining enrolments in agricultural higher education courses – The Committee’s view........................................................175
Chapter 8: Enhancing agricultural higher education ....................................................177
- 8.1
- Access to agricultural higher education...................................................................178
8.1.1 Access to Commonwealth-supported places................................................178
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Inquiry into agricultural education and training in Victoria
8.1.2 Barriers to agricultural higher education for rural and regional students ....... 179
The availability of higher education courses in rural and regional Victoria...............................................................................................180 The cost of studying away from home................................................182
- 8.2
- Attracting students to agricultural higher education .................................................184
8.2.1 The marketing of agricultural higher education courses................................ 184
Stakeholder views on current marketing approaches ......................... 184 Successful marketing initiatives..........................................................185 The branding of agricultural courses ..................................................187 The marketing of agricultural higher education courses – The Committee’s view...............................................................................188
8.2.2 The design of agricultural higher education courses..................................... 189
Stakeholder views on current course design ...................................... 189 New approaches to course design .....................................................191 The design of agricultural higher education courses – The Committee’s view...............................................................................193
8.2.3 Scholarships ................................................................................................193 8.2.4 Offering fee relief for agricultural higher education ....................................... 195 8.2.5 Promoting pathways from VET to higher education...................................... 196
Current pathways from VET to higher education ................................ 196 Barriers to moving from VET to higher education ............................... 197 Improving pathways from VET to higher education – The Committee’s view...............................................................................198