Horticulture qualifications to get further industry input

In late 2006 the decision was made by the relevant government bodies to merge the Rural Production, Amenity Horticulture and Conservation & Land Management training packages. The new training package is known as Agriculture, Horticulture and Conservation & Land Management (AHC08).

With industry input from all sectors, final feedback on the content of the qualifications was collated and forwarded by NGIA in July 2008 to the Agri-food Industry Skills Council for action.

In a move to bring back the industry ‘ownership’ of the competencies within the horticulture qualifications, ‘Trainer and Assessor Guides’ are to be developed for each unit of competency. The guides are to be included as part of the training package documentation and will be used by teachers and trainers as part of their resource materials. These guides will include the ‘horticulture industry recommended’ content and outcomes for each competency.

An NGIA project team has been formed and the members of this team are a cross section of experienced practitioners within the nursery & garden industry. The major role of the project team will be to ensure the guides supporting relevant units of competency within the retail and production horticulture qualifications contain the required industry content and appropriate assessment standards within AHC08. There could be as many as 100 Guides to review and validate – so we thank them for their dedication and generosity.

For further information on this project please contact Fiona Kelly, National Training & Recognition Manager at NGIA on 02 9876 5200 or Fiona.kelly@ngia.com.au