Education is the key for growing staff pathways

Cover image courtesy of Thoroughbred Breeders Australia

The launch of TBA Schools, an educational digital platform run by Thoroughbred Breeders Australia in collaboration with Primary Industries Education Foundation Australia (PIEFA), on Monday is a strong step towards a long-term approach to resolving some of the staff shortage issues facing racing and breeding.

“We wanted to provide a resource as an entry point for anyone wanting to learn more about racing, especially with the divide between city and rural people. TBA Schools allows students the opportunity to learn and find a pathway to a future career,” said TBA’s Madison Tims.

Resources based in research

“We did a lot of research around what was possible, and which were the best way to get into schools. We began with a survey in collaboration with PIEFA who already work with school promoting the agricultural industry.”

PIEFA provides an educational platform which works with schools to provide information about agribusinesses, starting with the basics of ‘where does your food come from’ and moving through virtual farm tours, and career pathways in different types of farming.

“PEIFA suggested that we do market research to find out what teachers wanted, and our survey was done with access to PEIFA’s extensive school database. We found that even teachers who didn’t support horse racing were keen to give their students a chance to learn about horses, racing, and job opportunities within the thoroughbred industry.

“Teachers are time poor, and so we have designed TBA Schools as something accessible that aligns with the Australian school curriculum. Teachers can take our resources and use them in mainstream subjects such as maths, English, arts, and science with ready-made lesson plans which are free.

“The new program was designed to connect the industry with schools and students through the Australian school curriculum, giving teachers and parents the confidence that there are career pathways and opportunities for students to work with the horse.”

TBA Schools engages students in meaningful learning; these resources showcase the industry's careers, sustainability initiatives, and the role of innovation and technology, offering students practical insights into breeding/genetics, anatomy, nutrition, welfare, and performance management.

“These educational resources allow teachers from primary school through to Year 12 the ability to incorporate the thoroughbred industry in the classroom. We are excited to have created a new site where these can be accessed for free and we have already had a lot of interest in the teaching materials from educators,” said TBA chief executive Tom Reilly.

Getting the information into schools

It’s one thing to design the resources, but there’s a second challenge in getting schools to use TBA Schools.

“We are working with PIEFA and their database to connect with schools, and from an industry point of view, we are hoping that anyone with children or connections to local school with tell their teachers about TBA Schools,” said Tims.

“The next step is that we want this to grow (from a resource platform). If there are teachers and classrooms who are keen to get involved with racing and breeding, we can organise a farm visit or a day at the races and give students immersive experiences to follow on from their school-based learning.”

The staff shortage issues

Racing and breeding globally are facing a staff shortage problem. It’s been talked about multiple times, including here at TTR:

“I grew up on a dairy farm and it wasn’t until I started studying agribusiness that I realised there were more opportunities across different types of farming and in racing,” said Tims.

“It’s always a challenge to help with staff shortages across all agribusinesses – not just racing - and that’s why it’s so important to enter schools with career possibilities and show students the pathways that are out there. It’s been proven that students are interested in looking at careers early on in their education and they want to see where they can go, and TBA Schools provides them a chance to see into our industry. TBA Schools supplementary information includes posters for your classroom, including a career pathways poster with a variety of options, and hopefully these resources will help bridge that gap.”

Industry assistance

Alongside PIEFA, TBA has received significant input from the wider thoroughbred industry in developing the resources, including the likes of AgriFutures Australia, Ciaron Maher Racing, Chris Waller Racing, Godolphin, and Racing Queensland, who have contributed time, information, images and their research.

“TBA is very grateful to all those who have assisted in this project and look forward to working collaboratively with other parties to ensure these resources are used at schools across the country. We encourage all thoroughbred industry participants to engage with their local school communities through their children, peers and local teachers to use these resources to help teach the next generation of breeders,” said Tims.