MPs adopted in committee on Friday an article of the government’s agricultural bill to create a new national Bac+3 level diploma to train for professions in agriculture and the agri-food industry.
Incorporated into the agricultural bill, this provision provides for the creation of a new national undergraduate diploma, which would be offered jointly by public higher education establishments and public or private agricultural technical education establishments.
This diploma must contribute to the objective of professional integration in the fields of agriculture and agri-food. It was to be called Bachelor agro, but deputies from all sides opposed what they considered to be an unwelcome anglicism.
An amendment, carried by the Macronist rapporteurs and the Republicans, brought the possibility of accrediting private higher agricultural education establishments, and not only private agricultural high schools, as planned in the initial text.
A real need for a diploma?
The six existing private higher agricultural education establishments have more agronomist engineering students than public establishments, the rapporteurs underlined.
Several left-wing deputies opposed the measure on the merits. It’s a crazy idea, and no one asked for this thing, criticized the communist Sbastien Jumel.
I have never heard of the need for this diploma in 20 years in the educational community, added LFI MP Aurlie Trouv, drawing on her experience in agronomic education. Both read the risk of privatization of education.
It does not come out of nowhere, argued on the contrary the Minister of Agriculture Marc Fesneau, believing that this diploma filled a missing link pointed out by the establishments, and which will make it possible to improve the attractiveness of our training.
Earlier in the morning, the deputies also adopted a series of articles, in particular to clarify the missions of public technical agricultural education, which must provide modules on the agroecological transition or organic farming.
Thursday evening, they adopted an article listing public action priorities in terms of training. An amendment from the Liot group set for 2030 a target of a 30% increase in the number of students in technical agricultural education compared to 2022, an increase of 75% in the number of veterinarians trained compared to 2017, and an increase of 30% of the number of agricultural engineers compared to 2017.