Agricolleges International intends to significantly expand its skills development short course offering over the coming months and will cover a variety of agricultural and agri-related topics by 2020. Courses are designed to upskill recent school leavers and those with prior experience, while enabling students to learn-as-they-earn.
The initial short course offering will include foundational courses in Agribusiness, Plant Production and Animal Husbandry. These will be followed by more specialised courses focused on specific crops and livestock, including, courses in citrus, avocados, macadamias, table grapes, maize, cattle, dairy, poultry, pigs and many more.
“We will soon open applications to our accredited NQF Level 4 National Certificate in General Agriculture,” says Agricolleges International founder, Howard Blight. “This one-year qualification that will open for applications in March 2018, will provide students with a broad understanding of all types of agriculture and will be another exciting milestone for the institution.”
“The increasing demands being placed on the agricultural sector requires that we step up to help grow the skills pool, reduce unemployment, promote economic development and drive improved food security and thereby social security in the decades to come. We believe that one of the ways to do this is through a combination of cloud-based education and technology,” says Blight.
Agricolleges International provides students with an opportunity to gain a qualification in general agriculture using a modern, blended-learning approach. Most of the learning and assessment will take place on the Brightspace learning management system (LMS), which offers interactivity and participation between students and the facilitators.
The blended-learning environment involves combining independent online learning with the concept of shared-learning in terms of insights and information, and face-to-face practical training. Agricolleges International has also partnered with existing top organisations and institutions across South Africa to offer practical learning sessions at Practicals Destinations. In addition to studying online, students are required to attend up to 10 days of formal practical learning at one or more of these facilities.
To drive the need to educate and empower South African youth, Agricolleges International will, for a limited period, offer students the opportunity to enrol in the first course, Introduction to Agribusiness (Level 1) at a 50% discounted fee of only R 2,400 (excluding the R 100 application fee).
For more information visit the Agricolleges International website: www.agricolleges.com
