Isle of Wight college offers pupils rare agriculture course
Isle of Wight NFU chairman Robyn Munt © NFU
An Isle of Wight college is offering students the chance to study for a rare farming qualification, to encourage more young people to pursue a career in agriculture.
Medina College, in Newport, will be one of just three schools in the country to offer the Cambridge International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) in Agriculture from September 2022.
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The IGCSE gives 14 to 16 year olds around the world the chance to study a wider choice of subjects, and is aligned with GCSE qualifications taken in England.
The college held a careers event earlier this month to tell year-nine students about the qualification and the different work pathways within agriculture.
The course is designed for students to consider agriculture as an applied science and covers crops, livestock and machinery, as well as farm economics.
Local farmers, vets and the Isle of Wight NFU branch set up stalls and spoke to the students.
‘Plant a seed’
Naomi Smy, careers leader at Medina College, said: “It was great to promote the careers and associated further and higher educational opportunities within the agriculture sector.
“It planted a seed for many students who are now considering some of the options that were presented to them.
“Thank you to the exhibitors, who kindly gave up their valuable time to support our event, many of whom regarded the morning as a way of investing in their future workforce.”
The NFU is helping the college prepare the new outdoor learning space and provide links with the island’s farming community, to support students in their studies.
Isle of Wight NFU chairman Robyn Munt said the new facilities and course are a great way for students to engage with farming.
“We introduced them to the vast range of careers available in agriculture, ranging from farm secretary to herdsman, agricultural engineer to agronomist, and the opportunities in disciplines such as sales and marketing in the agricultural supply sector,” she said.
“Young blood is essential to the success of UK agriculture, as estimates suggest that 60,000 new people are needed to work in our industry right now, for it to simply stand still, and even more if we are to expand food production and increase self-sufficiency in home-grown food.”
NFU Education looking for Farmers for Schools ambassadors
NFU Education is looking for farmers to help teach secondary school students about British agriculture in the classroom.
The Farmers for Schools programme will build on the union’s successful work in primary schools where agriculture has been used to help teach Stem subjects – science, technology, engineering and maths.
Farmers will talk to students about how food is produced and the different job opportunities there are in the industry.
NFU president Minette Batters said: “This is an exciting programme that will give farmers the opportunity to pass on their knowledge and expertise to the next generation, as well as talking about farming’s vital role in producing food for the nation and the role it plays in caring for the environment.”
Full training will be provided by the NFU and members can sign up for the programme.