The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs will begin training officials and workers in the agricultural and food sectors to lead the post-coronavirus era, the Food and Agriculture Officials Training Institute said Sunday.

The plan is to foster 32,000 agricultural and food experts through 162 different training courses this year.

As the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic has made it difficult to conduct large, offline classes, the Food and Agriculture Officials Training Institute said 27.5 percent of this year’s courses will be done through remote education.

The Institute has taken steps to carry out a remote education plan including renewing its online courses, creating new courses to reflect the recent trends in the agricultural sector, setting up a studio for cyber classes and producing educational videos.

The curriculum looks to spread the value of agricultural and food offices in the public sector, establish a people-centered education system, train agricultural and rural policy experts and provide open education to improve communication and bring success, the Institute said.

“We will focus our capabilities on fostering talented people in the agricultural and food sectors who can contribute to creating well-off and heartwarming rural areas that are centered around the people and environment,” said Kim Deok-ho, the head of the Food and Agriculture Officials Training Institute.

By Kan Hyeong-woo (hwkan@heraldcorp.com)