The Queensland Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association annual conference has endorsed calls from its branches to lobby for specific primary production units to be included in the national curriculum.
Two motions addressing concerns that as more of Australia’s population lived away from the areas that produce food and fibre, the understanding of how it was made was being lost by young people, were passed at the recent state conference in Winton.
Tambo branch delegates asked for primary production to be included in the national curriculum as a compulsory component, while the Hughenden branch wanted a specific unit on Australian primary production to be developed in conjunction with industry experts, giving the example of Department of Agriculture and Fisheries staff, as opposed to curriculum writers alone.
National ICPA president, Wendy Hick, advised that agricultural education was already a compulsory part of the national curriculum, saying the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority left it to each state to decide how it was to be implemented.
For example, she said it could be covered in environment or sustainability subjects.
This was backed up by Department of Education spokesman, Regan Neumann, who said food and fibre production was found in design and technology units in Queensland, and could also be found in health in some year levels.
“If you want to ramp that up, I suggest you do it through a national approach,” he said.
The Hughenden branch’s explanation acknowledged excellent resources available from industry bodies, such as George the Farmer, but said they were often not used in the classroom.