Fifteen South African agriculture students have left for practical training at a top agriculture school in Denmark. The learners, from the North West and Free State provinces, will receive training at the renowned Dalum Agricultural College in Denmark as part of a partnership between the two countries. The course runs until June 2015.
Dalum Agricultural College is Denmark’s largest and oldest agricultural college. It is regarded as a modern, international college for further agricultural education. The learners left on September 01 and have already undertaken lessons on how to acclimatize to Danish culture, professional skills and have been placed in farms to complete internships.
A decision to strengthen this trainee partnership was made when the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Senzeni Zokwana and the Danish Minister for Food, Agriculture and Fishery, Dan Jørgensen, met in Pretoria on Tuesday, 23 September 2014.
The Danish Minister was in South Africa until Thursday, 25 September.
Said Minister Zokwana, “We have made a decision to strengthen skills among young people. After all, the sector in its entirety is in agreement that skills are the backbone of agriculture. During the very fruitful meeting, we stressed that South Africa’s challenges with unemployment need aggressive interventions, the Danish have understood this and are undertaking to allow our learners to learn from their very best. I hope our students will enrich themselves with this training and bring back the skills to build our country.”
The academy’s curriculum is two fold and involved a skilled farmer programme and a farm manager programme. The former involves a basic course of 20 weeks, followed by practical training.
The agricultural education part includes a college-based core curriculum majoring in livestock or crops, usually lasting 16 to 20 weeks. "These skills will be greatly beneficial for our country and we are pleased that my counterpart has committed his country to making their expertise available to South African young people," said Minister Zokwana.
The Danish Minister said the meeting is an opportunity to maximize relations between South Africa and his country.
Enquiries:
Palesa Mokomele, Spokesperson of the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
Tel: 012 319 7876
Fax: 012 319 6681
Tel: 021 467 4502
Fax: 021 465 6550
Cell: 082 904 1908
