Tipperary students get down and dirty to learn about farming as a career

Hundreds of Tipperary students were among three thousand Leaving Cert agricultural science students from across Ireland  who donned their wellies and took to the fields as part of Agri Aware’s Farm Walk and Talk series. 

Now in its 11th year this unique initiative has gone from strength to strength, in line with the ever-increasing popularity of agricultural science for the leaving certificate – with some 14% of leaving certificate students sitting the exam in 2018.

 Tipperary students visited the Teagasc centre at Moorepark in Fermoy.

The aim of Agri Aware’s Farm Walk and Talk series is to demonstrate the practical elements of modern agriculture to second-level students preparing for their leaving certificate agricultural science exam.

Scoil Ruain, Killenuale students Dylan Ryan-Bambrick and Sean Prendergast

This event series is timely as we see major updates to the agricultural science course at second level for the first time in over 40 years. 

This new syllabus will be rolled out at 5th year level from September 2019.  

Agri Aware engaged extensively with stake- holders including Agri Aware’s patrons over several years to ensure the new specification was reflective and relevant of today’s agri food industry.

Colaiste Dun Iascaigh, Cahir students Renar Mateesa and Kevin O'Connor with Agri Aware's Muireann Reilly

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Michael Creed welcomed the initiative and described it as a great way to introduce students  to the practical side of farming. He said it was only through understanding the origin of food  that people will value the role of farmers and the importance of this sector.