Animal science – the missing link between teaching and practice
Animal science is one of well-developed sector in Indonesia, especially poultry, both its science and industry. In the poultry sector, the chicken population is varied, from traditional/small-scale poultry farmers to giant poultry players in the industry, such as feed, breeding, processing and veterinary medicine industries.
Based on the facts, animal science industries need a lot of graduates who major in Animal Science and/or Poultry Science. Additionally, the industry needs employees that can not only think analytically, logically and creatively, but also have knowledge and technical experiences.
The problem is that when students of animal science are in their faculty/dept., they often get taught many theories, and only a small part of their syllabus is technical practices. Even the lecturers themselves do not often share with their students the real challenges that will face the students after graduation, and the requirements needed by the animal industries. Consequently, many of these students will be confronted with difficulties when they do step into the real animal science profession, and many will not be able to fulfil the industry’s requirements because they lack knowledge and technical experiences. As a result, many students actually decide to venture into a completely different field altogether.
This should be a great lesson for animal science lecturers, and specifically for the faculty/dept. officer, to set a new education system of animal science with both industry and research orientation. Additionally, in order to fulfil the requirements needed by the poultry (animal) industry, the education system should contain a relationship between faculty/dept. and the industry so that the industry can share new information and technology related to animal science and provide some technical training for the students.
I would like to bring this to the attention of readers because I would like to see the missing link between academic and industry vanish so that all of us can take a part in making animal science and the industry more successful and developed.
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