Agricultural Vocational Education Research Articles

Agricultural vocational education and training for sustainable futures: responsiveness to the climate and economic crisis in Zimbabwe

ABSTRACT With ever-increasing focus from policymakers on the potential of vocational education to provide skills for livelihoods and sustainability in the rural economy, this study set out to investigate attempts at curriculum reform by agricultural technical and vocational education and training providers in the context of the dual crisis – ‘climate and economic’ – in Zimbabwe. The question addressed is: How should the agricultural vocational education and training curriculum respond to the climate and economic crisis to ensure sustainability? The paper highlights enablers and barriers to curriculum responsiveness. Moll’s model of curriculum responsiveness provided analytical lenses for the study. Data collection was through semi-structured interviews, focus group interviews, document analysis and observations, and analysed thematically. The study revealed that the climate crisis in Zimbabwe has affected both government and non-government vocational training centres in several ways. However, the curriculum was 'one-size fits all', focused on the needs of a formal labour market. Such a labour market has been decimated by the economic crisis and climate break down. Hence, providers of agricultural vocational education in rural areas ought to consider re-engineering the curriculum to be more responsive to a range of drivers, including climate change, especially within the rural context.

AGRICULTURE 4.0 AND AGRICULTURAL VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Technological development plays an important role in the history of mankind, whether in development of economic production or society. Industrial revolutions are mentioned in connection with this development, with the one of the last stages called Industry 4.0. It is no different in the field of agriculture, where Agriculture 4.0 is taking shape. Vocational education and training, the role of which is to secure qualified workers for agricultural production, must also respond to these challenges. In this context, the article outlines the development of the agricultural sector in Czech Republic according to selected economic indicators, the development of agricultural vocational education and training, and finally, it provides examples of the enrichment of teaching with elements of Agriculture 4.0.

Territorial Impact of the Agriculture Vocational Education in Albania

The agricultural vocational education secondary school (AVESS) system in Albania, is organized through 8 institutions located in various regions, that tend to respond to entire the national demand, giving equal opportunities to all interested students, regardless of their place of residence. In these regards, the Albanian government has implemented several measures to attract students to integrate AVESS and facilitate their integration in the labor market. Despite the various measures, including financial support or adapted facilities for students coming from families with low income or from remote areas. The territorial impact of AVES remains limited and shows a relatively low coverage. This phenomenon is not exclusive to agricultural professional schools that do not have dormitories, but even to vocational schools that have dormitories and adequate facilities. Aiming towards a sustainable agricultural sector development and an efficient sectoral labor market, that tends to guarantee equal opportunities for the new generations, the objectives of the study are AVESS Gap identification, factors that impact AVESS attendance, assessment of the impact of governmental measures, and proposing recommendations for a sustainable AVESS system. To understand what are the main factors that influence the territorial impact of AVESS, a consolidated assessment has been performed during 2020-2021, passing through desk research, screening, focus groups, working groups, experts and agricultural representative interviews, and visit to relevant agricultural businesses, workshops, and dedicated surveys targeting teachers, students, and local businesses. Out of the assessment results, family income is the main factor influencing AVESS attendance. Regardless if schools have dormitory facilities or not, as the distance between students’ homes and the vocational school’s location increases, family income also tends to increase, but at a decreasing rate. Students coming from families with modest incomes show a lower mobility and beyond a certain distance they are less likely to register in AVESS located far from their residence. By testing three main hypotheses, it has been noticed that home-school distance negatively affects the attendance of students coming from families with lower incomes. In other words, family income plays a significant role in determining school attendance, particularly when considering the distance between students' homes and AVESS. Considering this finding and the low AVESS territorial impact, imply that the governmental financial incentives have a low impact and do not offer equal opportunities to all students, especially the ones residing far away from AVESS and coming from families with low incomes. In this context, new policies could be taken into account, such as enlarging the number of AVESS or evaluating the possibility to open agricultural vocational education secondary classes in general high schools located in rural areas.

Integrating Triple-Helix System in Agricultural Education Programme for Development of Employability Skills Among Students in Rivers State

The study examined how the integration of triple-helix system in agricultural education programme would develop students’ employability skills in Rivers State. The study adopted a descriptive survey with three research questions. A random sampling technique was used to select 122 (106 students and 16 lecturers) respondents in agricultural education from the population of 350 in Rivers State University and Ignatius Ajuru University of Education. A self-structured questionnaire designed in 4-point rating scale of agreement was used for gathering data. Data was analyzed using mean and standard deviation with a benchmark mean of ≥ 2.50. Findings from the study revealed that the integration of triple-helix system in agricultural education programme would develop students’ managerial skills such as enhancing their knowledge in planning, communication and risk management skill among others. Finally, it was also found that students would develop fresh ideas towards solving agricultural problems, imaginative thinking for production of agricultural value-addition, critical thinking skills for decision making, initiative skill for alternative method of food processing and skills for improved packaging of agricultural products when triple-helix system is incorporated into vocational agricultural education programme

Development of New Student Admission Web-Based Application in Polbangtan Manokwari Using Codeigniter Framework 3.1.7

Polytechnic of Agricultural Development Manokwari (Polbangtan) is one of the state universities under the Ministry of Agriculture, to carry out the mission of providing agricultural vocational education in the context of agricultural regeneration located in Manokwari, West Papua. Polbangtan already has a website but has not yet served online registration of new students. Even so, in its development, there are more and more prospective new students who are interested in studying or registering at the Manokwari Polbangtan, both from within the province and from outside the province, both those who have just graduated from high school/equivalent and for civil servants in the field of Agriculture. From research conducted in Polbangtan, that with this new student admission application system it will make it easier for the committee to process data for prospective new students in the process of registering new students to the process of admitting new students who are outside the area or inside, and presenting information about new student admissions. can be accessed directly through the media website.

Determination and Utilization of Mentoring and Scaffolding Mechanisms by Lecturers for Teaching Vocational Agricultural Education to Students in Tertiary Institutions of Taraba State, Nigeria

The study was to determine the utilization of mentoring and scaffolding techniques by lecturers for teaching Vocational Agricultural Education to students in Tertiary Institutions in Taraba State. The study adopted descriptive survey research design. Four research questions guided the study. The areas of the study were the Tertiary Institutions in Taraba State that offer Vocational Agriculture. The institutions include; College of Education, Zing, Taraba State University Jalingo, College of Agriculture Science and Technology and Federal University Wukari. The population of the study was 200 lecturers of Vocational Agriculture from which a sample of 132 were drawn by stratified random sampling technique. The instrument for data collection was a structured questionnaire named “Mentoring and Scaffolding Utilization Mechanisms Questionnaire” (MSUQ). Five experts in vocational agriculture validated the instrument for data collection and was trial tested. A Cronbach Alpha coefficient of 0.80 was established after analyzing the trial testing of the instrument. The Cronbach Alpha coefficient of 0.80 was high enough and indicates that the MSUQ was reliable to elicit information for the study. One hundred and thirty-two copies (132) of the questionnaire were administered on the respondents with the help of research assistant in each of the institutions. The research assistants were able to retrieve 100% of the questionnaire administered. The data collected were analyzed using weighted mean and standard deviation to answer the four research questions. The result revealed that the ten mentoring techniques presented were accepted by the lecturers as mechanism for teaching Vocational Agriculture. So also, the seven scaffolding techniques were accepted by them. Furthermore, the result showed that the utilization of mentoring and scaffolding techniques were not impressive as the utilization falls below 30% of the techniques presented to the respondents. Techniques not utilized for mentoring among other include: friendliness to learners, approachable to learners, give feedback to learners while those techniques not utilized for scaffolding among others include; activate prior knowledge, learner participation, provide support as learners learn, pre-teach vocabulary. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended among others that lecturers of Vocational Agriculture should sustain the techniques of mentoring and scaffolding while proprietors of the institutions are to motivate the lecturers to attend seminars, conferences and workshops on utilization of mentoring and scaffolding techniques to bring about the required learning of vocational agriculture by students in the tertiary Institutions in Taraba State.

Analysis of Factors Influencing the Employment Motivation of Rural Students in Agricultural Vocational Education – The Example of an Agricultural Vocational School in Chifeng

In recent years, Chinese national investment in vocational education has increased, especially in rural areas. However, the large amount of investment has not contributed to the promotion of the quality of vocational education. Moreover, the employment of vocational school students is facing serious challenges. The influence of factors such as backward technology, poor working conditions, and low welfare benefits in rural areas has led to the loss of a large number of talents after they have received vocational education, resulting in a serious lack of agricultural high-tech talents in rural areas. This paper uses research and analysis of questionnaires to study rural students in Chifeng on the issue of rural education, discusses the current employment situation of students in agricultural vocational schools, and analyzes the main motives of rural education values on students’ going to rural areas for employment. The results show that 1) the urban orientation, as well as the utilitarianism of rural education, is not significant; 2) the lack of rural content in rural education affects rural students’ future employment region choice, making rural students more inclined to employment in big cities; 3) the employment difficulty of rural students in the city causes the main influence on rural students’ future employment region choice. At the same time, this paper proposes to change the status quo by combining education with information technology.

Competencies in Edible Insects Production for Training of Vocational Agricultural Education Students in Kogi State

In an effort to meet up with animal nutrient shortfall and ever increasing human populacewhile managing the attendant health challenges of meat consumption, various unconventional sources of nutrients, exceptionally micro-livestock, has been recommended to form integral part of the nation’s traditional farming system and consumption. Therefore, thefarming and consumption of edible insects are seen as an essential tool in improving the animal nutrient supply in the country.This study therefore aimed at identifying the competencies required in the production of edible insects to train the students of Vocational Agricultural Education (VAE) for considerable economic empowerment post graduation. Thisstudy adopted a survey research design implemented on a population of 104 respondents. It was found that VAE students required all the competencies identified in the entomological literacy, housing, planning, and maintenance of edible insects for economic empowerment psotgraduation. The finding of the test of hypotheses showed no significant difference (p>0.05) in the respondents’ mean responses on the entomological literacy, housing, planning, and maintenance competencies needed in the production of edible insects. From this findings, it was therefore recommended that all the identified competencies of edible insect production be applied in the training of VAE students.

Curriculum reform in agricultural vocational education and training in Zimbabwe: Implementation challenges and possibilities

There is a need for the agricultural technical vocational education and training curriculum in Zimbabwe to be reformed so that it can respond to changes in farmer demographics, the expanding roles of agricultural extension officers (AEOs), changes in technology and climate change. The current agriculture curriculum was developed for a different context altogether; therefore, it now lacks relevance to the prevailing socio-economic, political and environmental changes. There is a need for the curriculum to respond to the evolving needs of farmers, AEOs and institutions providing agricultural extension, and to match the changes in AEOs’ occupation role profiles. This article draws on curricular documents from five institutions involved in the agricultural extension curriculum and policy, together with 22 respondents, with the aim of exposing gaps in the agricultural extension curriculum. In addition, the article explores the ways in which the curriculum can be reimagined to meet the needs of small-scale farmers, AEOs and emerging agricultural developments and digital technologies. The authors advance what might be the processes of change in the curriculum, highlighting the weaknesses of the current curriculum as well as what a more responsive curriculum for Zimbabwe should look like in the light of both local and international expectations. In so doing, it contributes to a wider international debate about agricultural education reform.

PETANI MILENIAL: REGENERASI PETANI DI SEKTOR PERTANIAN

<p>During 2016–2020, there has been a decline in the number of workers in the agricultural sector. Negative perceptions make the agricultural sector no longer promising and are slowly being abandoned, especially by the younger generation. This study analyzed the problems and the efforts to attract and develop millennial farmers. This study is a qualitative study using a qualitative approach with descriptive analysis of the available secondary data. The results show that youth involvement is lower in the agricultural sector. It is caused by several factors, such as wage or income levels, unsupportive policies and lack of access to technology, self-development and capital. Therefore, it is necessary to regenerate farmers through the development of millennial farmers by attracting the younger generation's interest in the agricultural profession, developing modern agriculture, supporting government policies, agricultural vocational education, and easy access to agriculture.</p>

Improving the system of supplementary vocational education for the integration development of the agro-industrial complex and rural areas of the Union state of Belarus and Russia on a project basis

A new mechanism for assistance to the innovative development of the agro-industrial complex (AIC) and rural areas of the Union State of Belarus and Russia — the project «Development and improvement of supplementary vocational education of managers and specialists of the agro-industrial complex of the Union State of Belarus and Russia on the basis of a single educational and innovative platform» — is suggested in this article. The project is aimed at improvement of the career development system and the system of professional retraining of personnel, improving the professional level of managers and specialists of the agro-industrial complex of the union state. We put the following as targets: the development of principles and mechanisms for improving the integrated system of professional retraining, career development system, internship of AIC personnel and scientifi c and pedagogical personnel of educational institutions of Belarus and Russia; improvement and harmonization of the learning and teaching base of the system of supplementary vocational agricultural education; implementation of joint educational retraining programs, professional development programs for managers and specialists of agri-sphere organizations; organization of joint internships to get skilled in using modern production and management technologies in leading organizations of the AIC, scientific and educational institutions of Belarus and Russia.

Educación Agrícola Profesional en Amazonas: un análisis histórico del Aprendizado Agrícola Rio Branco (1941-1946)

This article is inserted in the field of History of School Institutions of Vocational Education, and it had as research object the Agricultural Learning Rio Branco, with the objective of understanding its school culture in the period from 1941 to 1946. It is a research with a qualitative approach, according to Minayo (2009), with documentary research as a data collection methodology. The theoretical support had the contributions of Antonio Viñao Frago (1995). Thus, first, the historical path of the school institution in question is offered; and later on, some official documents are analyzed, such as the Internal Regulation of Agricultural Apprenticeships, through Ordinance 708/43 (BRASIL, 1943b), and the Report of the Minister of Agriculture (BRASIL, 1945), which helped to understand a little the internal dynamics of this institution. Furthermore, we hope that this writing can contribute to the unveiling of Vocational Agricultural Education, both in Amazonas and in other Brazilian states, when presenting the school culture of this institution.

Vocational Agricultural Education for Self-Reliance Through Goat Production

Vocational Agricultural Education for Self-Reliance Through Goat Production

Enhancing academic student engagement in vocational agricultural education: why course design matters

ABSTRACT This paper considers the influence of course design on the capability of a vocational college to implement a student-centred learning approach to enhance academic student engagement. It is based on an action research project involving a course redesign within a vocational agricultural education setting that created a more student-centred approach and in turn enhanced academic student engagement compared to its traditional delivery. Phase 1 of research looked at academic student engagement in a traditional lecture format utilising a multi-methodological analysis. This analysis identified that one type of module presented a significant challenge with 0/16 classes rated as ‘high engagement’, primarily due to the subject content. Phase 2 redesigned a module of this type using a more student-centred learning approach to evaluate if this could enhance academic student engagement. Observations carried out on 24 classes of the redesigned module rated 21/24 as ‘high engagement’. The redesign process enabled the use of a more student-centred learning approach albeit limited by requirements to comply with traditional quality assurance requirements of the current course design. This action research contributes a greater understanding of how the principles of course design need to be considered in seeking to enhance academic student engagement in vocational education.

Pedagogical Support is a Necessary Condition for Creation and Development of a System of Lifelong Rural Education Providing the Training of High-quality Agricultural Specialists

Currently, there are two main options for training agricultural specialists in the Russian Federation. The first option is studying in a college (technical school) or mastering university programs through bachelor's, specialist and master's programs. The second way is to form a stepwise organisation of continuous agricultural education: a specialised general education school, a college (technical school), a university, and an institution of additional professional education. Insufficient attention to the change and development of new social statuses by students makes it difficult to fully disclose the educational potential of the system of continuous agricultural education. Thus, it is necessary to organize pedagogical support for students' adaptation to current changing academic situations. It is also essential to consider lifelong agricultural education not only as advanced training in the workplace, but also as a transition from specialized training in a secondary general education school to secondary agricultural vocational education, and then to the development of programs of higher agricultural education and subsequent regular, professional development throughout the entire period professional activity.

Perception of Recipients of Agricultural Science Education of Agriculture and Agribusiness: A Survey

Effort of government at all levels to transform agricultural sector in Nigeria and diversify the economy from oil required that Nigeria educated youth should be persuaded to take active roles in the process. As youth have latent potential to overcome some major constraints to improving agricultural productivity. Major step in this direction is to encourage and support graduates of agriculture and related fields to take up career in agribusiness. On these premises this paper examined willingness of students of vocational agricultural education in colleges of education to take up career in agricultural-entrepreneurship. Questionnaires were given to 76 final year students in the department of Agricultural Science Education, The College of Education, Lanlate. The findings revealed that respondents have positive perceptions of agriculture and agribusiness and showed strong willingness to find their opportunity to contribute as leaders and participants in agricultural sector. Major challenges to willingness to actively participate in agribusiness were found to be limited-access to capital, land, agribusiness information and extension services, risk of uncertainty in agriculture, and high cost of inputs. The paper recommended strengthening of extension services and out of school agricultural knowledge, improve access to capital, land and information on government support and reinvigoration of agricultural-entrepreneurship education to make it relevant to needs of the recipients and address emerging challenges in agricultural sector.

The value of using classroom observations as part of a multi-methodological approach to evaluate student engagement in vocational agricultural education

ABSTRACT This paper discusses the value of using classroom observations as part of a multi-methodological approach to understand what influences student engagement in classroom settings. This action research aimed to gain insights into what influences students to participate in the classroom and was conducted in an Irish vocational agricultural college as part of an initiative aimed to enhance classroom engagement. Classroom observations were used to examine how students interact in classroom settings by observing student’s behavioural engagement as the cognitive and affective domains of engagement are more difficult to observe. The findings were triangulated and validated with data from the teacher interviews, student focus groups, and a student survey. This paper details the multi-methodological approach taken, how classroom observations were developed and used, and the value they brought to evaluate what impacted student engagement within this context.

BEGINNING OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION IN KATERINOSLAVSKY AT THE EARLY XX CENTURY

The institutional formation of primary and secondary agricultural education was the result of the response of local governments and the provincial administration to the economic crisis caused by the effects of the drought series. The regional economy needed a skilled workforce capable of mastering modern agricultural technology and innovative agro-cultural innovations. The proposal to create an elementary educational institution of agricultural education was put forward on June 30, 1894 at the meeting of the provincial assembly by the deputy of the Verkhnodniprovsky County Zemstvo E.I. Ostroukhov, whose initiative was supported by the deputy corps. Subsequently, in November 1899, the Verkhnodniprovsky Agricultural School was opened, on the basis of which the educational and production model of the primary agricultural education institution for the Dnieper region was developed. The substantial expansion of the area of primary vocational agricultural education was significantly slowed down by the economic crisis of 1900-1903.The next stage in the development of vocational agricultural education in Katerynoslav province is related to the legislative activity of the autocracy. In particular, on May 26, 1904, the Russian Emperor Nicholas II approved the «Regulations on Agricultural Education», which defined the general legal principles and order of functioning of secondary and lower educational institutions of agricultural education. However, the obstacles to the implementation of regional educational projects were the military-political events of the Russo-Japanese War and the Revolution of 1905-1907, which caused a financial crisis that made it impossible for the intensive development of the educational environment. The new attempt of meaningful expansion of the space of lower and secondary vocational-technical agricultural education falls during the period of Stolypin agrarian transformations of 1906-1911. models of rational land use. At the meeting of December 15, 1909, the Katerynoslav Provincial Zemsky Meeting approved a new target program aimed at establishing a network of lower agricultural educational establishments in the province. The practical implementation of this document led to the emergence of a number of primary agricultural schools. On the eve of the First World War, new educational establishments were opened - practical agricultural schools, which were engaged in the training of technicians for certain branches of agriculture: horticulture, viticulture, horticulture. During the First World War, new centers of agricultural education emerged - agricultural shelters, which provided the function of social care for orphans.

О ПРИНЦИПАХ ИНТЕГРАЦИИ АГРАРНЫХ УЧЕБНЫХ ЗАВЕДЕНИЙ И ПЕРЕРАБАТЫВАЮЩИХ ПРЕДПРИЯТИЙ АПК

The article deals with the problems of development of agricultural vocational education in Russia and the possibility of its improvement based on the development of the process of interaction of agricultural educational institutions with processing enterprises of the agro-industrial complex of the country. The article discusses the possibility of creating a strategic partnership between the subjects of agricultural vocational education, which can become a reliable basis for the introduction of practice-oriented training. The study of the concept of «principle», presented in the dictionaries of Russian scientific literature, as well as the analysis of the principles of inte-raction of subjects of professional education, proposed by different authors. The possibility of using the proposed principles in the process of organizing interaction between agricultural edu-cational institutions and processing enterprises of the agro-industrial complex is investigated.

Skills Acquisition in Snail Farming: A Panacea for Entrepreneurship Development of Graduate Youths in Rivers State, Nigeria.

The study which adopted descriptive survey design has a population of 800 graduate youths (male and female) from three local government areas in Rivers State. Accidental sampling technique was used to select 400 youths from the population as the study sample. Two research questions and two hypotheses formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance guided the study. The instrument for data collection was the researcher’s self-constructed 20-item questionnaire titled “Skills Acquisition in Snail Farming for Entrepreneurship Development Questionnaire (SASFEDQ)”. SASFEDQ was constructed on a 5-point Likert Scale of Strongly Agree, Agree, Undecided, Disagree and Strongly Disagree corresponding to numerical values of 5,4,3,2 and 1 respectively. The instrument was face validated by three experts in Vocational Agricultural Education from the University of Uyo, Nigeria. The reliability of the instrument was established via Cronbach’s alpha method with a reliability coefficient of 0.83. Mean and standard deviation were used to analyze the research questions while t-test was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed among others that hatchability skills, skills in pen construction, skills in snail feed preparation, accounting skills, strategic planning skills, communication skills are some of the vocational and business management skills required by graduate youths in Rivers State for their entrepreneurship development in snail farming. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended among others that Government should provide more vocational centers across the state for easy accessibility to vocational education and training. Keywords: Entrepreneurship development, snail farming, vocational skills, graduate youths. DOI : 10.7176/JEP/10-33-15 Publication date: November 30 th 2019