College goes online to stem student exodus

Publish date	2008-07-08
Employment	Employee training
Available Articles	Full articles without membership

A decision to increase the minimum pay for agricultural workers under the age of 17 in Scotland has led to a college turning to distance education to stem a decline in student numbers.

When the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board scrapped age-related pay bands, that put pressure on farming businesses to the point where most can no longer support young employees who attend block release training courses.

As a result, Oatridge College, which is situated between Glasgow and Edinburgh, is to offer unique work-based learning courses for entrants to the farming industry from this autumn.

It is a bid to reverse a 50 per cent decline in the numbers seeking formal qualifications since the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board scrapped age-related pay bands.

Peter Scott, the Director of Farms at Oatridge, said the Board’s decision to increase the minimum wage has put so much pressure on farmers that they are now unable to support young employees for six weeks in the year, while they attend college on block release.

He added: “We want and need a well educated and trained workforce in modern farming, so it’s crucial that we find a way for entrants to gain proper qualifications. We ran a pilot programme and we think work-based learning, using modern technology, is the way ahead.”

The college administrators have decided to adopt a new approach. From September 2008 students applying to study for a Scottish Vocational Qualification (SVQ) in Mixed Farming at Levels 2 and 3 can choose the distance learning option.

Scott said: “We want and need a well-educated and trained workforce in modern farming, so it’s crucial that we find a way for entrants to gain proper qualifications. We’ve looked at this issue and have run a pilot programme. We think distance learning, using modern technology, is the way ahead.”

Students can proceed at their own pace and get through the paperwork in the winter months when the short days means there is less work about on the farm.

Full-time students all work on the college farm whilst part-timers gain work experience on their placement farms. Students carry out livestock and crop work, tractor operations, estate tasks and machinery maintenance.

The practical work is supported in the classroom and workshops by livestock, crops and machinery lectures. Higher level courses also study: Record-keeping, IT, Personnel Management, Marketing, Planning, Budgeting and Business Appraisal.

Keywords: agriculture, distance learning.

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