Draft ag science specification open for consultation

The draft specification for the new agricultural science course for the leaving certificate is open for public consultation. The syllabus, which is 40 years old, as it currently stands, is just five pages long compared with, for example, the 52-page biology syllabus.

The draft specification can currently be accessed on the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) website, in addition to a questionnaire where there is a final opportunity to give feedback.

The public consultation will close at the end of March, and it is planned the specification will be approved by the NCCA council in autumn 2016 prior to entering a formal process where the document will be signed off by the Department of Education, for possible delivery in schools in September 2017.

Agri Aware chief executive Vanessa Woods engaged the leaders of the Irish agri-food industry to ensure the specification was industry relevant now and into the future.

This current specification draws on feedback Agri Aware received at that event and on feedback from NCCA focus group meetings. “We are now looking for feedback on what we produced based on their suggestions,” Dr Woods said.

Information from the public consultation will be taken back to the NCCA ag science development group and the specification will be amended based on the comments.

There will also be NCCA focus group meetings with the Irish Agricultural Science Teachers Association (IASTA) on the new specification.

IASTA held their annual conference in the Abbey Hotel in Roscommon at the weekend and honorary president of IASTA 2016 Mairead Lavery made a special address at the annual dinner.

The IASTA conference spent much of Saturday discussing the NCCA new draft specification.

The draft specification has four main strands: scientific practices, soils, grass and other crops, and animals.