Abstract. Purpose is determining the role of agricultural education in improving the sustainability of rural areas development based on the analysis of indicators of sustainable development of these areas, substantiated by the authors in previous studies. Methodology and methods. For the calculations, methods of economic and statistical analysis were used, such as (observation (continuous and selective), grouping methods, relative and average values and economic forecasting), as well as abstract-logical and expert methods. The scientific novelty of the study revealed the validity of the role of agricultural education in the sustainability of the development of sustainability of perception, which can manifest itself in the development of agricultural production, which has the main area of application of labor in areas, personnel with observable modern digital competencies. As well as the development of a methodological approach to determining the prospective need for personnel in specific specialties for agriculture in the region, which allows planning the training and placement of personnel in accordance with the need for them. The input parameters for the model are the number of vacancies, the personnel composition of agricultural enterprises and organizations in accordance with the positions held, the age of employees, work experience and level of education. The results of the study consist in approbation of the methodological approach proposed by us on the basis of the largest municipality of the Irkutsk region – the Usol’skiy district municipality, the gross agricultural production of which is 1/5 of the gross agricultural production in the region, and the distribution of sample survey data to the entire general totality. The websites of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Irkutsk Region (section of personnel policy) and employment services, as well as data from departmental statistics, were used as initial data for testing.