Agricultural Skills development in Vocational and Agricultural Education ‘The supply side’

1. Agricultural Skills development in Vocational and Agricultural Education‘The supply side’ Bukenya Godfrey Training Manager Rakai District Agricultural Training and Information Centre

2. Topics • Key Questions • Defining ‘supply’ • Approach • Targets • Efficiency and Effectiveness • Policy Issues • Recommendations

3. Key Questions • Is there a blue print for vocational skills development? • Is Agricultural education and Training a precursor to rural urban migration. • Is skills development a burden to for over loaded school curriculum? • Has agricultural education and training addressed poverty reduction?

4. Defining the “supply” • Custom design and delivery of skills development programs both formal and informal for the specific targeted groups and individuals • Coordinate training institutions and other partners farmers, NGOs Industries and research institutions in planning and implementation of strategies for skills development

5. Approach • Emphasis on skills development not on training inputs. • Using the right approach which can strengthen self- esteem of learners • Use holistic approach for defining skills needs • Build partnerships to ensure skill development matches work and income opportunities

6. Approach

7. Targets to strengthen skills development • Farmer schools (informal) • Farm schools (formal) • Farmer field schools (informal) • Primary schools • Secondary schools • Vocational institutes

8. Strategies • Forge partnerships and Profit sharing agreements • Collaboration between private sector and researchers • Develop curriculum in a participatory manner and should be revised based on feedback from all actors

9. strategies • Provision of affordable and accessible ICTs skills in AVET • Improve the ICT infrastructure to address the prevailing inadequacy of ICT skills

10. Missing link • Thematic skills which include qualitative and quantitative analysis of innovation systems • Skills at farmer level such as: - Group management - Internal savings - Basic business skills - Natural resource management - Group dynamics - Leadership skills

11. Efficiency • Skills development is essential to consolidate agriculture. • Vocational agriculture education and training have excessive focus on public sector jobs • New skills like natural resource management, biotechnology and agribusiness are ignored

12. Effectiveness • There is excessive focus on tertiary level qualification in AVT hence low enrollment in practical vocational training centers • There are social challenges for skills development in rural areas due to bias by governments favoring urban areas

13. Policy issues • Develop new policy on BTVET addressing rural development skills • Embrace all skills of rural life rather than concentrating on agriculture education

14. Recommendations • Improve on the quality of skills provision through increased literacy levels. Literacy remains a key skill as literate people continue to be sent for further training hence gain more skills • Balancing the demand and supply sides in skill development. • Enhance the perception of vocational education and training • Improving employer educational engagement

15. Recommendations • There is a need to train all people in conflict management and leadership skills as this makes discussion of difficult topics and challenging situations easy as groups became resilient and stable • AVET/SD must embrace the use of ICTs as this can transform provision of agricultural advisory and extension services