Education, Community, Industry: Partnerships for Agricultural Development

Introduction

In most countries in the Middle East and North Africa, schools at all levels are strictly overseen by the Ministry of Education. Curricula for general and technical high schools as well as for colleges and universities are highly prescribed with little flexibility for adaptation to local needs. The concept of a “community” surrounding a secondary school or technical school is mostly non-existent; community members have no chance for input regarding the operation of the school or an assessment of how well the school meets its goals. Similarly, for technical schools, the area agriculture industry is not included in any decision-making processes and therefore have limited ability to determine the extent to which h technical school graduates are being prepared for industry.

Successful school and college programs rely on the involvement of all: the community, including families and agricultural businesses, the school or college instructors and administrators, and the students enrolled in the programs and activities. Various studies and reports (O’Brien, 2012; Epstein, 2008) indicate that teachers, parents and students indicate that parent engagement has increased considerably over the last 25 years. Linking schools with the communities they serve helps ensure that programs are relevant to the needs of the community and business/industry and are providing opportunities for students to develop and enhance competence and skills for entering and succeeding in the workforce. Parents want and need more and better information to guide their students, students benefit from family and community involvement, and educators must develop partnership programs that reach families and help students succeed. Schools should take the lead in creating those partnerships, including involvement of the agriculture and agribusiness industry.

A longitudinal study by Sheldon and Epstein (2004) indicated that school, community, and family partnerships can significantly reduce chronic absenteeism. Communicating with families about the importance of attendance and celebrating good attendance may reduce the percentage of students who miss twenty or more days of school each year. Students two are not in school obviously cannot learn as much or gain as many skills as those who are present.

For more than two decades, many schools have developed and implemented professional learning communities (PLCs). A PLC, as defined by Burnette (2002), is a school where “people are united by a common purpose, shared vision, collective commitments, and specific, measurable goals” (p.52) designed to enhance student learning. Al-Mahdy and Sywelem (2016, October) used the Professional Learning Communities Assessment—Revised to assess teachers’ perspectives of PLCs in three Arab countries: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Oman. The Saudi and Omani teachers viewed PLCs in their schools positively, while Egyptian teachers showed negative perceptions. Further, female teachers viewed the PLC significantly more positive than their male counterparts.

Technical education development, including agricultural education, has resulted from attempts to achieve economic development through the expansion of arable lands, establishment of new industries and factories, the exploitation of mineral resources, and the shift to a modern economy. While progress has been made over the past 50+ years, the need still exists to improve and expand technical education in agriculture to achieve national goals. Technical education in Arab countries is typically a responsibility of the state, provided for and funded by national budgets (Harby, 1965). As in much of the populace throughout the world, the emphasis in public, government-funded education has continued to be on theoretical and academic education. Additionally, technical education is considerably more expensive that “academic” education, presenting an obstacle for underfunded schools and colleges.