Campus ‘worries’ for future of West Cork horticultural course

A SPOKESPERSON for the West Cork Campus, which is located in Skibbereen, has described as ‘premature’ claims that its horticulture class will be cut from its September programme.

‘We are interviewing for all of our 11 courses at the moment,’ a spokesperson for the campus told The Southern Star. ‘We can run courses on very small numbers but we have to have a minimum number.

‘At present, we don’t have enough for the horticulture course to be viable, but there is no truth in the claim that it is being axed because we are still recruiting and will be interviewing again in August.

‘All of our other courses look as if they are going to be viable,’ said the spokesperson. But, in terms of teaching allocations, she said the campus has to prioritise the courses that are in demand.

‘We can have small numbers, and we do run courses with small numbers (of less than 10), but when numbers get extremely small then obviously you can’t run a course with one or two people,’ she added.

‘We are being run by Morrison’s Island – the Cork College of Further Education and Training Service – and at this point we are looking at the courses that don’t seem to be in demand.

‘A decision hasn’t been made, but we are worried about the horticulture course from the point of view of numbers. We can’t have an empty room.’

Cork South West TD Michael Collins (Ind) is of the opinion that the (FE) Level 5 course must be retained because people who cannot travel to the city will be left with no opportunities to upskill.

‘Horticulture is very important to West Cork and the country because we are importing over 90% of our fruits and vegetables,’ he said.

‘West Cork has arguably the strongest sustainability ethos in local production, but to be sustainable you need educated staff,’ he added.

‘Skilled personnel are needed for our nurseries, fruit growers, vegetable and organic growers, as well as landscapers and our garden centres.’

Deputy Collins urged the West Cork Campus to continue to hold off making a decision until after the next round of interviews in August.