III. DAIRY TRAINING IN A NATIONAL DAIRY TRAINING CENTRE

The kind of training offered in a national dairy training centre will largely depend on the manpower requirements and on other training facilities available in the country. The dairy training centre envisaged in this publication has been designed with the view to suit a variety of requirements. First of all it comprises on one site the following facilities:

• accommodation of students with all complementary facilities
• classrooms and laboratories
• milk plant for training purposes but on small commercial scale
• small scale milk production unit for training purposes

Should some of the above mentioned facilities be available in an existing training institution and should this institution be designated to undertake dairy training, the information provided in this publication could be utilized for establishing the complementary facilities required. It should be mentioned however, that the milk plant included for the centre as proposed in this publication would be sufficient to supply a town of about 25 000 inhabitants with liquid milk and milk products. The plant is of somewhat sophisticated design and in certain circumstances it may be considered desirable to build a simpler version.

The two versions of the proposed dairy training centre should be considered as two extreme examples of a vast variety of possible projects.

The first is an example of a centre for 40 students at any one time, with training facilities basically in milk production and collection, with emphasis on dairy hygiene. The buildings are designed and equipped to catter for courses lasting not longer than six months, but brief courses or seminars could also be given as and when required.

The second is an example of a centre designed for courses lasting up to three years in dairy technology (diploma level) and dairy husbandry. The buildings and equipment are designed for a maximum of 120 students at any one time, devided into six classes of 20 students each. This centre can provide almost any combination of long and short courses and seminars. Table 1 gives an indication of how facilities could be used to run a three year diploma course in dairy technology and dairy husbandry for 120 students (40 students on each academic study year).

The most essential component of the decision concerning the establishment of a dairy training centre is always the estimate of the number and type of trainees for whom the centre is designed. The centres are equipped to provide for training for:

Notes: Classrooms 1, 2 and 3 are in constant use throughout the course. Classroom 4 is available for other purposes as required. Numbers in brackets indicate number of students
xxxx = utilized 100 percent
- - - - not fully utilized

1. Milk producers (farmers). The centre can also be utilized for demonstrations to neighbouring farmers.

2. Animal production/dairy husbandry extension officers. The training centre could be very well utilized for basic, post scholastic, in-service or refresher training for extension officers at all levels, depending on the requirements of the country.

3. Dairy farmers' associations, dairy cooperatives. Seminars and longer term courses could be offered by the centre.

4. Milk collection, transport and milk hygiene. The centre (in both versions) has all facilities required to provide training in this essential part of dairy development.

5. Milk processing and marketing. Vast types of courses can be offered by the centres equipped with a milk plant to all levels of employees of milk processing plants.

6. Quality control in the dairy industry. The centres are particularly well equipped to provide training in this aspect of the dairy industry.

7. Teachers in milk production and processing. This essential aspect of dairy development can also be catered for, the type and duration of courses depending on requirements.

The above list does not exhaust the vast possibilities of training which the centres are able to offer but gives an indication of the type of training which could be made available. In both types of centres presented in this publication the assumption was made that theoretical training will amount to 50 percent of the courses, practical training 40 percent and educational tours 10 percent.

The staffing pattern for the teaching staff of the centres will largely depend on the structure of courses offered and no standards can be suggested in this respect in this publication. The examples given below should be considered as a demonstration of the structure of the teaching staff of the centres for a given type of courses visualized.

Example 1. First level training centre - courses up to six months, 40 students at a time Types of courses run at the centre.

1. Pre-apprenticeship courses for the milk processing sector (two to six weeks),
2. Completion of apprenticeship training in the milk processing sector (three to six months)
3. In-service courses on milk processing (two to fourteen days)
4. The management of milk collecting centres (two to four months)
5. In-service courses for extension officers working on milk production with the emphasis on dairy hygiene (two to fourteen days)
6. Brief courses or seminars on dairy development.

Teaching staff requirement based on a one-year training schedule

Example 2 Second level training centre - three year course at diploma level in dairy technology and/or dairy husbandry, 120 students at a time.

Teaching staff requirement based on a three-year training schedule