Research Lantra commissioned in 2017, which was backed up by the Scottish Government’s Future Strategy for Scottish Agriculture and the Women in Scottish Agriculture Task Force, recommended that Scotland’s network of training instructors needed to change.
Training providers, employers and industry organisations such as the Scottish Crofting Federation and Skills for Farming Group, agreed on the need for more instructors and greater diversity, and that succession planning was important too.
Then, during COVID-19, more people became interested in doing short, professional, training courses and so the demand for instructors grew.
Lantra’s Springboard for Rural Skills project, which began in January 2021, aims to increase and diversify the network of instructors supporting quality assured training in Scotland’s land-based, aquaculture and rural industries.
The instructor network development project is helping to: support the upskilling and reskilling of new entrants and career changers, including those impacted by redundancy (which have increased as a result of COVID-19); support increased rural business resilience, adaptation and diversification through a more skilled workforce; help to clear the waiting list for short courses caused by the extended restrictions; and help to support Scotland’s ‘green recovery’ and climate emergency response objectives.
32 people have been taking part in the project, working on development plans with a lead instructor and mentor. Some will register with an awarding organisation and others have undertaken professional development to help share their skills and experience with others informally.
Complementary training and support ranged from instructional techniques and health and safety to first aid, technical refresher courses and mentoring by experienced instructors. Targets for gender, age, geographic and ‘skill set’ diversity have all been achieved.
Key activities:
• Feedback from training providers, established instructors, industry and strategic partners helped to identify geographic gaps and training course demand.
• An experienced training provider, instructor and technical verifier became Lead Instructor and Mentor for the project, backed up by specialist support, (for example with chainsaw use and forestry operations).
• Promotional activity included communicating with training providers and industry, with other awarding organisations such as City & Guilds and NPORS, and on Lantra’s website and e-newsletter. Industry partners also helped to promote the initiative. Complementary videos and podcasts were produced to help inform and support future recruitment and longer-term succession planning.
• There were 79 enquiries initially, with 37 turning into applications. After an assessment, 32 then joined the project, working on tailored development plans with the Lead Instructor and Mentor and other delivery partners such as training providers. All gender, age, geographic distribution and skill set diversity targets were met or exceeded, with nearly half of those taking part being 40 or younger. The 11 women involved ranged from those new to instructing to very experienced operators.
• Individual development plans, including technical and instructional training requirements, first aid and health & safety were then put in place, with activity at the end of the project focussed on technical verification and registration.
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