S.I. training officers meet

Press, 12 October 1979, Page 21

S.I. training officers meet

. The South Island's five * agricultural training . officers were m Christ- . church recently for two • days and a half attending a meeting on policy devel- * opments in agricultural • training. 1 The group included the . first officer to be appointed in the South IsI land — Mr M. G Double, ...who works in the NelsonMarlborough area and who took up his duties on 'April 1, 1975 — and also .the most recent officer to •join the service — Mr R. “W. (Richard) Greenough. agricultural training officer for the West Coast Nvho is also working with •Mr Double in Nelson and •Marlborough He took up ffris duties in April. - With the officers were -Mr M. C. (Maurice) KenNiedy. senior executive draining officer with the

Agricultural Training Council, and Mr G. A. i Gerry) Millichip, executive training officer (agriculture). In discussing during a break in the conference how well they were known to people in the farming community, the indication was that to a section of farmers — unfortunately perhaps a fairly limited number — they were well known. As one officer commented if a course was held under their auspices this week and another a week or two later it would be the same group of farmers who would appear on each occasion. Much the same applies, of course, to attendances at farmers’ conferences and field days. There are some farmers who have a quest for knowledge, but as another

officer commented another section were just not switched in. Some of these are the older farmers, who at their time of life per■haps feel it is too late to try and learn new-fangled things. Some even say "talk to my son.” The officers feel, nonetheless, that the position is changing and will change even more as younger people come into management in agriculture and horticulture — people who are more orientated to learning and training. At first the officers have been responding to expressed needs in the courses and field days that they have helped to organise. But their activities have been growing and expanding and there has been increasing interest in horticultural topics, in line with increasing diversification into this area, and also in farm and business management, farm engineering, farm forestry and also equine or horse training in the racing and trotting fields. Mr Millichip noted that in the last three years hours of training sponsored by regional training committees, with which the training officers worked, had increased progresssively from 5000 to 11,000 to 15,000 hours. But if at first the training programmes have tended to be a little haphazard perforce, the trend is now towards a more logical and systematic form of training. This is coming out of the preparation of lists of skills for every sort of farm activity that a worker may be called on to do, including such activities as woolshed and stock yard work and drenching and docking etc. The preparation of these, in the first instance, came out of a review of the

specifications for the certificate in farming course, and it has at the same time provided a base for developing training programmes too. The specifications for the skills required by farm and horticultural workers have now been completed and the special skills required by the farm manager or owner are now being examined, too, and these could have a bearing on the quality of training' that is given in the future by farmers to workers and cadets. The importance of this area has been emphasised by the action of the Government in recently making provision for a subsidy to farmers who train workers. The specifications for work skills have been worked out in collaboration with farmers. When agricultural training under the Agricultural Training Council recently came up for review by the Vocational Training Council. it came in for warm commendation in that the council was seen as the only one of some 28 training boards that the Vocational Training Council has under its wing which has adopted the systematic approach to training and is so far ahead of the others in this respect. In the accompanying photograph taken during the recent conference are, from left, Messrs Double. Millichip. Greenough and W. L. (Wayne) Hopkins, recently appointed agricultural training officer for South Canterbury, Miss C. E. (Cheryl) McMath, agricultural training officer in Otago, and Messrs M. E. (Maurice) Webb, agricultural training officer for Mid and North Canterbury and senior training officer for the South Island, and Kennedy.