FARMING COURSE

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30288, 14 November 1963, Page 18

FARMING COURSE

More Academic Study Urged (N.Z. Press Association) WELLINGTON, Nov. 13. Less vocational training with increased emphasis on general academic study in the curriculum for agriculture course students at postprimary schools is wanted by the Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs. In a statement today, the federation said it was urging that the curriculum be revised to ensure that boys taking agriculture for School Certificate find the course no bar to the attainment of University Entrance, which was often the case at present A way towards improvement would be to reduce the number of agriculture options for School Certificate from the present three to one. or at the most two, thus ensuring that students had enough general subjects to continue to University Entrance without a radical change of subjects in the final year. “As farming is becoming Increasingly scientific, the federation believes that at the post-primary schools it is important increasing emphasis be placed on academic studies. Vocational training would follow later and be the more effective if a sound general grounding had been given in the schools.” Department of Education officers were sympathetic to the federation’s views, but believed public opinion was such that the proposed changes could not be made overnight, said the statement