An assessment of agricultural education in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean

The objectives of this study were to identify, collect, and catalog references on agricultural education and to assess agricultural education in Latin America. Data were obtained through a bibliographic mailed survey and through questionnaires from professors, students, and graduates from educational institutions. The method for conducting this study was the descriptive survey method. Descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, factor analysis, t-test, and one-way analysis of variance were performed;For the first objective sources of information were identified and linguistic and semantic differences were described. A collection of more than 600 references about agricultural education in Latin America was compiled. The major conclusion for this objective is that there is little coordination among Latin American educational institutions. The conclusion relates to the promotion of national, regional, and Latin American databases for the agricultural sciences;The findings for the second objective were that participants agreed on rural development concepts, that policies, strategies, and goals of rural development are not responding to the needs of farmers. They did not agree that the economic situation is affecting the expansion and allocation of resources to the agricultural sector. Participants in the survey agreed that the teaching method most often used is the lecture method. Participants agreed that students do not have opportunities to interact with farmers. Study programs are not based on feedback from graduates, agribusiness, and farmer representatives. Respondents had a positive perception about agricultural education in terms of professional competencies, teaching methods, opportunities for practical and professional experiences, and consider agricultural education to be appropriate to the agricultural sector;Some trends of agricultural education in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean include the following: the rationalization of institutional growth, linking teaching research and extension to offer opportunities for students and professors for practical and professional experiences, and the upgrading of information systems. The recommendations for the second objective were to continue implementing programs for staff and faculty improvement, to promote the preparation of students and professors in pedagogical skills, to promote the creation or upgrading existing educational resource centers, and to convince national and international institutions of the benefits of supporting the agricultural sector in general and agricultural education in particular.