Hair-raising figures can be improved say farming colleges

Very few of those farmers attending the NFU Scotland meeting in Perth yesterday would have guessed that the most commonly delivered course at Scotland’s further education colleges was in hair care and beauty.

They also heard from Russell Marchant, the principal of Barony College, Dumfries, that there had been an explosion in the number of students taking animal health and welfare courses.

The trouble for Marchant with these statistics is that there did not seem to be the same expansion in demand for the students who were coming through these courses.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He claimed there was a serious imbalance in what the colleges were currently providing and what the country wanted or needed. “There does not seem to be any industry engagement on how many students are needed on such courses. I do not believe there are enough jobs out there in some sectors,” he said.

“We cannot continue with courses such as animal care which are so out of kilter with demand.”

He believed the proposed link-up between Barony College, Oatridge, Elmwood and the Scottish Agricultural College would help to sort out the current imbalances.

With the support of his farming audience, he said there was a proven need for more students coming through agricultural courses. In the years, from 2003 to 2009, he pointed out there had been an 18 per cent drop in student numbers on farming courses but with increased industry demand and a need for more food production, the pendulum had swung back.

He said that one of the most worrying aspects of the current situation was that because of funding problems the colleges were having to turn away students who wanted to come into the industry.

Representatives from all four colleges expressed their support for the proposed single rural college which if all goes well should be in operation by August 2012.

Jim Crooks from Elmwood said that they were ready to play a role in training agronomists with practical skills: “We want to send out students who can drive tractors and mesh practical skills with technical knowledge.”