Next month, a new private school for agricultural education will open in France. All programs at the educational campus Hectar are aimed at agricultural entrepreneurs who want to work in a socially just and environmentally friendly manner. For example, the school focuses on the rapid development of regenerative agriculture and artificial intelligence.
The arrival of the new private agricultural courses is viewed with some suspicion by French agricultural organizations and rural communities. Higher private education in France is reserved only for children of wealthy parents. Additionally, France already has a large number of exclusive and elite training institutes where the future class of leaders, politicians, and bosses is groomed.
The founder of the new agricultural school is Audrey Bourolleau, former agricultural advisor to President Emmanuel Macron's cabinet. The project is funded by French entrepreneur and billionaire Xavier Niel. The new campus is located on a 600-hectare estate near Paris, with meadows, fields, experimental plots, school buildings, and a laboratory.
The curriculum includes several short, intensive courses as well as six-month management programs. The shortest courses consist of a five-week coaching program to develop a business plan. Another program of 400 hours focuses on retraining to become an agricultural worker.
In a country that will face a significant shortage of farmers in the coming years, Bourolleau aims to train a new generation of farmers who will combine new technologies with traditional agricultural practices. Due to increasing rural depopulation and a growing lack of personnel, the school wants to provide fast workforce readiness and offers various training programs.
Among the concerns regarding the new school is the fact that agricultural education in France has so far been almost entirely the domain of the government and agricultural organizations and their funds, primarily aimed at children from family farms in rural areas. Moreover, it is said that this training is too far removed from daily agricultural practice.
There is skepticism within French agricultural circles about the underlying ideological purpose of the school. According to an article in 2020 from the LAN network of Dutch agricultural consulates, financier Xavier Niel was one of the initiators of a referendum on animal welfare that is supported by various French celebrities. He also invests in developments in the field of cultured meat.
The French union of public technical agricultural education questions why the French government is cutting budgets for already existing public agricultural training institutes. According to them, 300 jobs will be cut at public agricultural schools over the next three years, which will result in overcrowded classrooms.