FOREWORD THINKING FOREWORD THINKING
CRAIG WOOD, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, AGCSA
AGCSA committed to progressing turf education standards
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elcome to 2017 and may I wish all turf professionals a very prosperous New Year. Those of us in this demanding industry realise that while many of us enjoyed the festive season with family and friends, the Christmas period is often one of the most challenging times for a golf course superintendent or turf facility manager and their respective teams. High temperatures (or big rains), lots of traffic and less access to staff often means big hours and sleepless nights for these dedicated men and women. I hope you all got through with as little stress as possible and are moving purposefully into another year. Prior to Christmas I attended two events alongside AGCSA events and education manager Simone Staples that gave me a strong awareness of some of the issues surrounding the education of both apprentices and turf professionals that are vitally important to our industry. The first event was the meeting of the state golf course superintendent association presidents which was my first opportunity to catch up with all state leaders together to discuss these industry issues, warts and all. The second event was the meeting of the National Turf Education Working Group (NTEWG) which is comprised of the TAFE colleges and relevant industry bodies including Sports Turf Australia and the AGCSA. First, can I make it clear that the commitment and dedication that the managers, instructors and lecturers within the TAFE system exhibit is exceptional. Mostly under-resourced and time poor, these people are doing their utmost to turn out high quality people to grow our industry with little government help. I urge you to do anything you can to assist them, including making your local MP’s aware that our areas of expertise deserve
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AUSTRALIAN TURFGRASS MANAGEMENT 19.1
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appropriate TAFE and university funding every bit as much as horticulture, agriculture and other trades. At both meetings, however, it was starkly apparent that some areas of education we are delivering as an industry need substantial improvement and reform. In the first instance, the discrepancy in contact hours for apprentices from state to state is worryingly inconsistent. When I completed my turf apprenticeship (many) years ago, I was required
}Most importantly, don’t take any shortcuts with apprentices. An apprenticeship is designed to set a young man or woman up with skills to see them employed through the rest of their life. We at least owe them that commitment~ to complete 1200 hours of schooling. This was not negotiable. I did the 1200 hours in the allotted three years at a very well-equipped TAFE college yet still felt there was so much more to learn! Today, funding issues mean the hours of contact range from only 280 hours to 1200 dependent upon your state (and I’m told few are ever expected to do near that maximum.) It begs the question – Just what are the things the lack of hours and funding is forcing to be left out of the curriculum? Yes, we all understand you also learn on the job as well, but a strong understanding of the theory has a huge impact on the practical application of knowledge.