We are very glad to welcome 25 Ukrainian college students for a five-month practical training program in Germany for the third time in the frame of the bilateral project “Improvement of Agricultural Education at Colleges in Ukraine”. The scheduled arrival in May 2020 Germany was delayed due to the COVID-19 restrictions. Several additional requirements were necessary to obtain visa documents for the students (e.g. testing in advance on COVID 19). Finally, we were able to match all challenges successfully and the students arrived in Germany end of July 2020 for the period of 5 months.
The intensive practical training at selected farms in Germany is organized in the framework of the bilateral cooperation project which is funded by the German Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL). ADT together with two technical consortium partners – the Institute for Applied Agricultural Research of the University of Applied Sciences Nürtingen-Geislingen (HfWU) and the Company for Project and Process Management in Agriculture (PPMA) are implementing the project. The project aims to upgrade the educational standards and curricula at four Agricultural Colleges in Ukraine (Glukhiv, Lipkovativka, Illintsi and Myrohoschanskyi) in order to match the high demand of Ukrainian agricultural enterprises for skilled young professionals. The practical training of college students in Germany is a major activity of the project.
Since 2018 in total 66 Ukrainian college students participated in the intensive practical training at farms in Germany. This training is very much appreciated by the students as well as by the Agricultural Colleges and further project partners in Ukraine. In addition, several college teachers received training during the last three years on latest agricultural technologies in Ukraine as well as in Germany.
The implementation of the training program for the college students is organized by the project team of ADT Project Consulting GmbH (www.adtproject.de) in cooperation with AKI International e.V. (https://agrarkontakte.de/) located in Stuttgart, Germany. Beside enjoying the “real” farm life in Germany, learning & working at family farm establishments in the regions of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria, the students also undertake two excursions and a final joint meeting at the end of 2020 to exchange the experiences gained in Germany before flying back to Ukraine.