Hi-tech farming courses in Israel benefit Vietnamese students

Lam Dong (VNA) – As many as 77 Vietnamese agricultural students have graduated from an on-the-job training programme in Israel since 2012.

The programme was launched under the partnership between Da Lat University (DLU)’s Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong and Agrostudies, an Israeli provider of apprenticeship in agriculture. 

When these students graduated, they were offered a chance to further their study in Israel where they have gained hands-on experience in the field and seek start-up ideas.

Le Hong Nhan, was among 14 graduates from the DLU who spent a year in Israel for the programme in the 2017 – 2018 academic year. He was sent to a farm in the middle of a desert where he learnt tomato, chili and cucumber farming, harvesting and packing and was paid for what he did.

“Knowledge the lecturers gave us are very practical as 70 percent of our subjects were learnt on the farm. The farm owner instructed us very enthusiastically,” Nhan said.

These students were also taken to various hi-tech agricultural workshops or demonstrations of new farming machines and technologies which, according to Nhan, taught them a lot. All of them were awarded a Certificate of Graduation.

“The course was taught in English so our English proficiency is considerable improved,” he said, adding that after returning home, he had new attitude towards his job and become more responsible.

This academic year from 2018 – 2019, other 22 DLU graduates landed in Israel to take part in the apprenticeship course which lasts for 11 months and includes 16 subjects in hi-tech agriculture.

According to Cao Thi Lan, dean of the DLU’s Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, the apprenticeship aims to equip students with working skills in a professional environment and provide them with a better vision in the field they are pursuing.

In fact, many graduates from the course have been welcomed by agricultural companies in Da Lat when they came back home; some even have opened a hi-tech farm in their hometowns themselves. 

Agrostudies are among Israeli providers of agricultural apprenticeship for Vietnamese students, which combines advanced studies and hands-on “learning by doing" in various fields. It collaborates with dozens of farms across Israel to ensure each student is nurtured in the most enabling and stimulating learning environment, allowing them to benefit from real exposure to the most advanced agricultural working methods. 

Those participating in its programmes are from developing countries around the world, including the Philippines, Myanmar, Laos, Bhutan and Vietnam from Asia