The largest enrolment of wool classing professionals in the state sat its final exam last week at Hay’s TAFE campus.
Taught by one of Australia’s leading classers, Hay’s Kayla Garner, 14 students from Hay, Ivanhoe, Booroorban, Broken Hill, Adelong and Trangie were vigorously assessed.
The students commenced their training in February, under the expert guidance of Ms Garner, who was crowned Australian National Wool Handling Champion in 2013.
Stuart Murphy, TAFE’s head teacher of agribusiness, travelled from Scone to undertake the assessment.
“I am here to ensure these students have fully met the requirements of the qualification,” Mr Murphy explained.
“We want these students to be job-ready, ready to walk into a career in an industry experiencing Australia wide shortages.
“What’s great about this group is that many are wool growers themselves and are directly addressing this critical skills shortage.”
Each student passed their assessment and is now a fully qualified wool classer.
This article appeared in The Riverine Grazier, 4 December 2024.
