Review of Horticulture qualification

FIELD AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND FISHERIES

Review of Horticulture qualification

National Certificate in Horticulture (Introductory) (Level 2) [Ref: 1013]

The New Zealand Horticulture Industry Training Organisation (NZHITO) has completed the review of the qualification listed above.

Date new version published February 2011

The next qualification review is planned to take place during 2016.

Summary of review and consultation process

After consultation with stakeholders from the industry, the National Certificate in Horticulture (Introductory) (Level 2) [Ref: 1013] was reviewed to determine whether it remained fit for purpose.

Feedback indicated that a Land Skills Elective should be added to the qualification in order to align it with the National Certificate in Horticulture (Practical) (Level 1) [Ref: 1470] and the National Certificate in Horticulture (Level 3) [Ref: 1471], both of which have such an elective. The qualification also needed amendment to accommodate a lower level pathway for learners to the vegetable production strands of the two Level 4 Horticulture qualifications [Refs: 1014 and 1015].

This review also took into consideration the reviews and/or developments of the

· Level 1 standards in the Agricultural and Horticultural Science domain;

· new First Aid standards (26551 and 26552), which replace Core Health standards 6400-6402;

· standards in the Work and Study Skills domain and Primary Sector subfield; and

· provision for people working in the Nursery Production sector to achieve unit standards from the Garden Retail domain (via the Land Skills elective), which is a pathway into the National Certificate in Retail (Level 3) with optional strands in Bicycle Sales and Servicing; Garden Retail; Visual Merchandising; Delicatessen; and Produce [Ref: 0995].

Main changes resulting from the review

National Certificate in Horticulture (Introductory) (Level 2) [Ref: 1013]

Review category

See Key to Qualification Review Categories at the end of report

Changes to structure and content

· Sets A and B were removed from the Horticulture Elective, which is now just one section with no sets

· a new elective section, the Land Skills Elective, has been added to the qualification

· standards 7073, 7074, 7075, 9768, 18984, 18985, 90158, 90175, 90745 and 90746 were removed from the qualification

· standards 90157, 90160, 90918, 90919, 90920, 90922, 90923 and 90924 were added to the Horticulture Elective

· exemptions for standards 26551 and 26552 (included in the new Land Skills Elective) were added for candidates that hold expiring Core Health standards 6400, 6401 and/or 6402.

Transition

People currently working towards versions 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 of this qualification may either complete the requirements for that version by December 2012 or transfer their results to version 7.

The last date for assessments to take place for versions 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the qualification is 31 December 2012.

This qualification contains standards that replace earlier standards. For the purposes of this qualification, people who have gained credit for the expiring standards are exempt from the requirement to gain credit for the replacement standards - see table below.

Credit for	Exempt from
6400	26551, 26552
6401	26552
6402	26551

This qualification contains a classification that replaces an earlier classification. For the purposes of this qualification, people who have gained credit for standards in the lapsed classification may continue to use those credits to meet the qualification requirements - see table below.

Standards from	Are treated as Standards from
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries > Horticulture > Organic Horticulture	Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries > Horticulture > Production Horticulture

The NZHITO intends that no existing candidate be disadvantaged by the introduction of the reviewed qualification. Any person who feels that they have been disadvantaged by these transition arrangements should contact the NZHITO at the address below.

New Zealand Horticulture Industry Training Organisation

PO Box 8638

Riccarton

Christchurch 8440

Telephone 03 964 4735

Website http://www.hortito.org.nz/

Key to Qualification Review Categories

Category A The qualification is published as a new version with the same NQF ID	Changes are made to SSB name, contact details or purpose statement
	No change is made to title, rules or components of the qualification
	No transition arrangements are required
Category B The qualification is published as a new version with the same NQF ID	Changes are made to title, rules or components
	The new version of the qualification recognises a similar skill set to that recognised by the previous version
	The SSB is confident that people awarded the new or previous version are comparable in terms of competence
	Transition arrangements are required if candidates must gain additional/different credits for the new version
Category C A new (replacement) qualification is published with new NQF ID	Significant changes are made to the qualification in terms of components, structure, type or level
	The SSB views people with the replacement qualification as being significantly different in terms of competence from those with the replaced qualification
	Transition arrangements are required
	Transition may be limited to phase-out dates
Category D Qualification will expire. There is no replacement qualification	Qualification is no longer required by industry
	The qualification is designated as expiring and a last date for meeting the qualification requirements is set