engleski

Agricultural Vocational Education : State, Prospects, Recommendations for Improvements

The purpose of this paper was to answer the following key-question: To what extend vocational education in Croatia meets learning needs of the population in rural areas and contribute to agriculture as a branch? The structure of this paper was based on the definition of the three key concepts contained in the former question. The starting position for rural population is lower general quality and access to education. Starting with lacks of preschool education, most of the rural population (children) starts education attending compulsory education, but not the following levels of education because of lower access and quality of education institutions (higher costs for transportation or living outside family home in order to attain wished education). This state of agricultural education has historical background in the political system in which education was oriented for employment in state companies and not suitable for small family farms. Economic pressures on family farms and private property of land was strong and provoked younger farm family members to choose non agricultural education and future employment outside the farm. In the times of changes to market economy farmers and agricultural companies faced a number of problems with employees educated with old fashioned knowledge. In the last decade the needs for changes in agricultural education were pressing progressively and therefore came in focus on national level. Agricultural schools have less and less pupils. Teachers and pupils are not satisfied with the teaching methods and subjects to study. This specific problem was highlighted through the Ministry of Agriculture. Through a project “ Strategy of Rural Development) Croatian and FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of UN, in Rome) experts were given a task to view the state of agricultural education and obtain recommendations for improvements. These findings would be used first in establishing a new” pilot” agricultural school with a new programme and new teaching methods.

vocational education; agriculture; access; quality.

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