There are a lot of changes taking place in Irish horticultural education. To get a view on current development, we asked the principal of the College of Amenity Horticulture at the National Botanic Gardens, John Mulhern, and assistant lecturer in horticulture at the Institute of Technology, Blanchardstown Rachel Freeman to bring us up to speed
NATIONAL BOTANIC GARDENS
Courses are up and running in the Botanic Gardens and full-time student numbers in the college are approximately in line with last year. We have an increased uptake of the part-time component awards. Areas like fruit and vegetable production are now being heavily sought after in QQI Level 5 as minor component awards. This trend is also apparent in the Level 7 degree programme with sustainable food production being the most popular elective choice in the college this year. Nursery stock and landscape design also remain popular choices.
This autumn we will be starting our Level 6 courses in landscape design, nursery stock production and turfgrass. These courses are designed for people who have already
completed a full Level 5 award in horticulture or are currently working in the relevant industry.
We are also gearing up for next year’s spring careers event (Thursday 8 March 2018), with the current students taking a lead role in contacting horticultural businesses in the Leinster area. Last spring we were delighted to host 13 individual horticulture companies in the Botanic Gardens for an afternoon of networking whereby students could interface with employers face to face and chat to them about careers opportunities in the different horticulture sectors.
In terms of new course development, we have two apprenticeship proposals in applied horticulture and turfgrass currently with SOLAS. As I write, a Teagasc team is defending the apprenticeship proposals to SOLAS.
We will have more information on this development over the next six to 12 months. This development will hopefully pave the way for a new training model which has been
investigated and pioneered by Teagasc between its two horticulture colleges in Botanic Gardens and Kildalton and with input stakeholder partners in horticulture.
The Botanic Gardens College is now using the food campus in Teagasc Ashtown, Dublin 15 as a new hub for our practical horticulture training in the greater Dublin area. Here we
have access to a greater land area for our practical activities in landscape construction, fruit and vegetable production, turfgrass and nursery stock.
Ashtown has also provided us with a new three-hole turfgrass academy, which has already hosted several continuing professional development (CPD) industry events for the industry. A new research glasshouse (1700m²) was commissioned this summer and will be used to raise plant material for the student practicals and the landscaping work on the campus. The facilities also include a new conference facility, mushroom unit, student laboratory, utility building and access to an increased grounds area for student training. Teagasc Ashtown is
situated six km from the Botanics Glasnevin. These new facilities complement the new classroom development that we opened three years ago in the Botanic Gardens and are a strong testament to Teagasc’s commitment to horticulture education and development. We welcome industry participation in our new facility in Ashtown at all levels for conferences, demonstrations, and workshops. Please contact us for details. ✽
 JOHN MULHERN has worked with Teagasc for more than 17 years, primarily in an educational capacity. He is the current principal of the College of Amenity Horticulture, National Botanic Gardens, Dublin. |
Institute of Technology Blanchardstown
We’ve had a busy September in the Institute of Technology Blanchardstown with the start of both full-time and part-time courses in horticulture.
Student numbers remain roughly the same as last year, with turfgrass, food, social and therapeutic horticulture remaining the most popular subjects. Our second-year students are gearing up for placement, which this year sees students joining companies such as OPW and Ratoath Garden Centre, and we also have students participating in Ohio State internships and a number of students pursuing options in Holland.
Future course developments are centred on options within the part-time programme. This year we were delighted to welcome a new cohort to our part-time BSc Horticulture year 3. This takes graduates from our professional certificate in science in horticulture and other QQI Level 6 students to the next stage of qualifications, i.e. the BSc in horticulture.
This means that in conjunction with our existing option of an add-on part-time 4th year, we are now in a position to offer our BSc (Hons) Horticulture on a part-time basis.
Anyone wishing to complete an honours level degree can now do so, on a part-time basis, over a total of six years.
The development of these part-time offerings to honours Level 8 is based on a strong demand for QQI accredited parttime programmes, both from within and outside the sector.
As always, working closely with our industry partners, we strive to provide options for continuing education and CPD for students at all levels. ✽
 RACHEL FREEMAN is an assistant lecturer in horticulture at the Institute of Technology Blanchardstown, where she is also placement coordinator. In addition to teaching practice. Rachel has completed an MSc in social and therapeutic horticulture at Coventry University, UK. She can be contacted at rachel.freeman@itb.ie |
