The importance of understanding how food is produced,reconnecting children with the land and preparing pupils for employment in the modern technical world of agriculture was highlighted recently when FUW Education and Training Committee delegates met with Ysgol Gyfun Gymunedol Penweddig and Ysgol Bro Hyddgen pupils and Cabinet Secretary for Education Kirsty Williams AM.
Addressing a group of year 10 students, Anwen Hughes, the Union’s Education and Training Committee chairperson, said: “We are faced with a generation of children who don’t know how their food is produced, where it comes from and how to prepare it. The disconnect between food producers and consumers is widening. There is a simple way of addressing that problem - add agriculture and food production to the school curriculum.
“Penweddig school is an excellent example of how successful such courses can be and it is great to see so many young people taking up the BTEC on offer. Such initiatives should be supported and encouraged across Wales, and not be limited to secondary schools.”
Lowri Evans, who teaches the BTEC in Agriculture for students from both schools said: “This was a really positive meeting and I’m glad the Cabinet Secretary and FUW delegates were able to join us for the meeting.
“There is a stigma that pupils from farming backgrounds are not really interested in school work and that they just want to go home to farm. The reality is that the students are jacks of all trades and the skills they have are transferable to many other walks of life and study. As soon as they start seeing success in what they are writing for this course, they become more confident, and ultimately improve in other subjects as well.
“The number of students fluctuates quite a bit on this course, we only have 2 students from Ysgol Bro Hyddgen in year 10 but in year 11 at Ysgol Penweddig there are 16 students. Because of that, the collaboration between the schools to offer this course is really important.
“Looking forward, what would be really helpful is if the WJEC could work with the Government on the content of such courses to make sure that what we teach will prepare students wanting to go into farming with what will be required of them and prepare them for the reality of farming.”
Kirsty Williams, Cabinet Secretary for Education said: “It was very useful to have the opportunity to discuss the topic of agriculture subjects in schools with pupils from Ysgol Gymunedol Penweddig.
“The curriculum in Wales has been designed to meet the needs of learners at all stages of their education, and as agriculture plays an integral part in both the Welsh economy and culture, it is vital that our education system can offer subjects that teach our pupils valuable farming and food production skills.
“The global agriculture industry is changing, be it through the introduction of new technologies or breakthroughs in scientific research. It is therefore important that we ensure that the agriculture subjects being taught in our schools reflects these changes to ensure that our future farmers can compete within the global market, and that our agriculture industry here in Wales can thrive.”
FUW Policy Officer Bernard Griffiths added: “The Cabinet Secretary has recently launched the innovative ‘E-sgol’ project as part of the Rural Education Plan and we recognise the move as a welcome step forward. Such tools could very well pave the way in connecting more schools in rural and urban areas, providing everyone with access to education in agriculture which in turn will supply the sector with new entrants and combat the succession problems of the industry. Even if the school the pupils attend don’t offer it in house - tapping into this new way of learning could open up many opportunities. ”