Distance education on the rise - Massey University

The head of the agriculture and horticulture school at Massey, Professor Paul Kenyon, says the number of students doing this has risen significantly over the past three to four years. He says the cost of tertiary educaton in NZ is quite high and when people consider the loss of earnings during that period of study, it makes it a bit hard for them.

"So, it makes sense for some people to earn money while they study. Traditionally it has been mature students taking this pathway, but now we are seeing more school leavers deciding to opt for distant learning," he told Dairy News.

Kenyon says doing a degree by distant learning may take between four to six years as opposed to the normal three years. He says those doing their degree this way may miss out a bit on the community feeling by not being on campus with other students. But he says, depending on their course, they can still come back to the campus for short or block courses and they do get all the information that other students to get on campus.

"Massey has a history of teaching by distance one way of another for almost 60 years, so we are well set up for it and well known for it," he says.

Kenyon says the other good news for the School of Agriculture and Horticulture is the increase in enrolments for these subjects at Massey. He says these have been growing steadily over the past three or four years and puts this down to the fact that there now seems to be an appreciation of the importance of the primary sector to the NZ economy.

"And the realisation of students at secondary school about the range of roles and career options that the primary sector offers," he says.

Kenyon points to the fact that more than 200 secondary schools are teaching agriculture at NCEA level and that there is a large cohort of enthusiastic and well qualified teachers in these schools.

Gongs for Young Ag Grads

Recently Massey University held a special gala evening to recognise its top students. More than 250 students, lecturers and representatives of the primary sector attended the event which is now in its 32nd year.

Among the recipients of the awards was 25-year-old Kelsey Norrie who works on the family dairy farm in Canterbury and juggles her studies with her day job. She won the academic prize for a first-year student in Agriculture and Horticulture.

She grew up on the farm and really enjoyed being outdoors, so always saw part of her future being tied to farming and agriculture.

"I originally tried university, but it wasn't my cup of tea being full time on campus, so I ended up full time dairy farming. I then went to the Primary ITO, found it a total breeze and had this thirst for knowledge, so I looked at what else could be out there of interest and I came across agribusiness at Massey through distance study, so gave it a go," she says.

Kelsey Norrie.

Norrie says the amount of study time varies according to the paper she is doing; the recommended time per paper per week is 10 hours.

"I love being able to combine the practical with the theory. When I was a full-time student the theory was great, but I felt that I couldn't relate it to the real world the same as I can now."

She says being out on farm and studying puts everything in perspective and she's experiencing the best of both worlds at the same time.

Future Leaders

Young people are critical to the future of NZ farming.

That was the message from Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson to Massey University's top agricultural graduates and students at the special prizegiving event in Palmerston North recently.

Patterson says NZ is going through a technological revolution and old sheep farmers like himself are struggling to get their heads around it.

"But the young minds that come here are the ones who can unlock the potential that's out there," he says.

Patterson says the event was impressive and uplifting. He says agriculture is a calling and one that is growing, with ag student numbers up for next year at both Massey and Lincoln Universities.

All told, prizes were given out for 14 categories.

Arguably the most prestigious prize is the William Gearish Memorial Award which not only recognises an outstanding farm management student but one who has demonstrated a high level of personal integrity, intellectual curiosity, vision and social conscience. The winner of this award was Toby Collis who has just completed an agribusiness degree majoring in rural valuation. He comes from an established farming family in the Manawatu and says his love of agriculture has been passed down by five generations before him.

Collis says initially he will take up a consultancy role but long term he is looking at roles where he can help others to create new opportunities.