Glen College of Agriculture on the outskirts of Bloemfontein in the Free State celebrates its centenary this year. Sabrina Dean spoke to its new head, Melvin Makungu, about his views on agricultural education and the college’s new focus on food technology and agro-processing.
WHAT IS YOUR BACKGROUND?
I was educated as an agronomist and completed a BSc at the University of Zambia in Lusaka. After graduating, I worked in industry, marketing agricultural chemicals for a company named Roth, and I was also involved in programmes sponsored by the German Technical Cooperation Agency (GTZ).
I joined Taung College of Agriculture at Vaalharts in 1998 and was then transferred to Glen College in 2001 to bolster agronomy activities here. I was serving as vice-principal when I left in about 2010.
I was then employed by GTZ on a programme looking at improving practical offerings at tertiary institutions, which revealed challenges that Unisa faced with infusing practical training into a distance-learning programme.
I joined Unisa permanently to focus on this for the next seven years. I left Unisa when former Free State agriculture MEC Dr Benny Malakoane asked me last year to come back to Glen.
WHAT IS YOUR APPROACH TO AGRICULTURAL TRAINING?
I believe the selection of students and academic staff is one of the most important criteria, because agriculture is not just a career, it’s a way of life. We therefore have to start the weeding process even before formal academic training begins.
One of our challenges is that many students do not come from an agricultural background. This calls for a type of induction programme that allows prospective students to work on different parts of the college farm before the academic year begins to determine where their true passion lies.
I also believe that our lecturers need to teach by example. We should be dressed in overalls while training students, then they will realise they can’t arrive in designer clothes or stilettos.
My true passion, however, lies in the practical training that agricultural colleges provide, which is the only way we can teach students to farm.
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