College Conversation Skills shortage in the horticulture industry

Barrie Duesbury is a horticulture and landscape tutor at BALITraining ProviderBerkshire Collegeof Agriculture. He wants all students he teaches to be industry ready, which means the industry has to tell the educators what they want...

I have 39 years of horticultural experience working within the horticulture and landscape industry. The days of the four year apprenticeship, when you where shown every aspect of horticulture and able to build up your knowledge and practical skills Dver that four year period, have long gone. It was (en years ago that I first recognised there was a shortage of skilled people coining into the industryand it was at that time that I decided to come into teaching. That's also when I first started to push for delivering better trained, industry ready people with a higher level of practical knowledge.

Five years ago I came to Berkshire College of Agriculture (BCA) and with the shortage of people with the right skills and calibre still a major problem I realised that what the industry requires and what we teach at colleges with our syllabus are rniles apart. This is largely because the industry has changed so much.

About two years ago BCA moved over to more vocational teaching and all our learners have as much practical time outside on the grounds gathering as many new practical skills as they can. We have also adopted and recognised the neec that they should be skilled ready for the industry

learners the opportunity to undertake the City & Guilds NPTC Land based machinery qualification.

The other area we have been looking into is the USS/CSCS skills card, which requires the holder to have passed the ROLO (Register of Landbased Operatives) Health and Safety Awareness course and the CSCS 'Touch Screen' health and safety test. We feel that everybody should hold a first aid certificate these days and that this should be the industry minimum requirement. I feel it is important for all learners to leave with that training and a LISS/ CSCS card at the appropriate level.

These are very difficult times for the industry and knowledgeable staff with strong practical skills are difficult to find these days. This is the best time and the greatest opportunity for the colleges and the industry to work hand in hand and structure the courses so that we deliver industry ready staff. My aim, therefore, is to provide a forum to oring together employers and colleges so that we establish what the industry needs. Any comments can be posted on http://gardeningofthefuture. blogspot.com/

Anyone interested in joining the forum please email Barrie at bduesbury@bca.ac.uk