YANCO Agricultural High School (YAHS) is at the forefront of an exciting new initiative set to be the first of its kind in the Riverina, if not Australia.
The Riverina Compendium project officially held a launch on Friday December 1, with major Riverina agribusinesses in attendance to learn more and share their thoughts around the project.
According to project manager Erin Catanzariti, the compendium hopes to target the current disconnect between agricultural businesses and students interested in a career in the agriculture industry.
“We have had conversations with other schools' career advisors, from as far away as Victoria, who are really excited about this initiative and where it could lead,” she said.
“It benefits businesses and students by making information more accessible.
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"Students aren’t calling businesses individually to find what opportunities are available to them.
"They want to simply be able to see what is on offer and have all the necessary information available to them.
“We are only in the initial stage at the moment, but we wanted key businesses at the launch so they can see what we want to do, offer some thoughts and hopefully they can go back to their environments and speak positively about the project.”
Agribusinesses who attended the launch include Aquna/Murray Cod Australia, Casella, Calabria, Collier and Miller, Hutcheon and Pearce, I2R, Irra Sales, NSW Farmers Federation, Terra Ag, Water Tech, and Westchester.
Representatives of the businesses were all eager to see the compendium come to fruition as it provided a solution to many of the struggles pertaining to sourcing and retaining trainees.
It will also act as a central point for students to find more information on how to achieve certain careers in the agricultural industry, or to find more information on what a career in agribusiness looks like.
Riverina Compendium Chairman Mr. Plowman, who regularly resides in South Australia, was inspired to create a compendium modeled after South Australia's one after it became increasingly clear there was a need for one.
“There is a compendium in South Australia which is now into its third edition, and it was initiated by Adelaide University, with a very strong industry organization input.
"It is primarily targeted at students going to universities,” he said.
“What we did was make this one directly related to secondary students because that's where the initial need was.
"We ran a careers workshop in March for year 10 students.
"We had alumni present, and what became apparent was that students had absolutely no idea what they wanted to do nor what they had to do to get there.
“One of our main aims is to collect as much of that information as we can, to provide to students so they can see what’s available to them.
"Through that, students will want to come here, they will do well and businesses in the region will be willing to provide apprenticeships and to hire people.”
The project will take the form of a website, tailored to school use, which will include but not be limited to information on vocational paths, tertiary opportunities and financial assistance information.
Although focused on YAHS at the moment in its early stages, it will eventually evolve to include include all 16 schools teaching Agriculture and Primary Industries throughout the Riverina.
The project received funding worth $15,000 from Primary Industries Education Fund Australia (PIEFA) as well as $10,000 from the Yanconian Foundation..
It has also been developed through the mutual collaboration of the school, PIEFA, Charles Sturt University (CSU), and Regional Development Australia (RDA) for several months under the direction of Dr. Don Plowman, a YAHS alumni member.
The Riverina Compendium group hope to have the compendium up and running by mid 2024.
