First agricultural college for Ilembe

Shakaskraal Secondary School has officially changed its name to the North Coast Agricultural College.

The school was chosen by the education department to be converted into an agricultural high school to cater for the Ilembe region.

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The department of agriculture and rural development have invested R1.5 million to kick-start the project.

Agriculture committee chairman and principal, Sunjay Bodasing said within three to four years the school was aiming to cater for aquaculture, have a boiler house, layer house, dairy, piggery, three greenhouses and crop and orchard farming.

“As we speak we daily produce about 420 eggs and we have about 850 chickens, selling more than 60 chickens a week,” said Bodasing.

The school will be one of the five in the province that will provide training to pupils who want to make agriculture a career.

Contractors are busy clearing bush and fencing the 12.5 hectare school farm. The department of education is negotiating with landowners for more land, and a hostel for 300 pupils is planned.

“The curriculum will be more practical than theory, so the hostel will allow pupils to stay over whenever they need to be on the farm in the early hours. Transport and accommodation will not be an excuse for those not attending training on time,” said Bodasing.

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Courses offered will include agricultural science, agricultural management practice and agricultural technology, from grade eight.

He said that since 65% of pupils are Zulu speaking, from next year the school will teach Zulu as a home language and teach English as first additional language.

Bodasing said the school will also offer practical agricultural training for pupils from other schools in the region.

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