Bee course fee hike will put students off
THE Guernsey Beekeepers Association has for many years run a vocational course in conjunction with the College of Further Education, at its request. We were informed last week that the course fee for 'Introduction to Beekeeping', our night school course for the next year, will more than double from £90 to £215. This cost increase is prohibitive and will act as a discouragement to those wishing to take the course.
This exorbitant increase will encourage prospective candidates to embark on this very satisfying hobby without the benefit of some basic instruction and guidance and they can quickly find themselves in difficulty and cause a potential danger to neighbours.
It is worth pointing out that should a student who has undertaken the course decide to take up the hobby, he/she will, in addition, have to find more than the cost of the course again (£3-400) to fund the purchase of tools, equipment and bees, making the whole exercise prohibitively expensive for what will only be a hobby, and seasonal at that.
There may be an argument for an increase for a course leading to a recognised qualification, but this course is purely vocational and of great benefit to the island's environment.
While we accept that there are inevitable cost implications due to inflation to the department and the need to make savings, only half the course requires facilities provided by the college and then only the use of a classroom for five two-hour sessions.
Course materials or services are provided by the GBKA at no charge to the C of FE.
Other than lecturers' fees, which are paid to the association to subsidise annual subscriptions, there are no other cost implications to the Education department for the other five sessions of the 10-week course.
If this charge increase is to remain, then we shall be looking for a suitable location in order to provide this course of instruction at a realistic cost.
Honey bees are an important pollinator for the island and we need to do everything we can to encourage people, especially our younger generation, to take up the craft as without them the honey bee will not survive in the wild.
We hope that the Committee for Education, Sport & Culture will reconsider this decision which, if applied to all the vocational courses, will only serve to inhibit islanders' ability to learn new skills and which will be seen as yet another tax.
CHRIS TOMLINS,
President,
Guernsey Beekeepers Association and night school course tutor.
