From Classroom to Showground: an Agricultural Education Partnership
Howick High School will introduce Agricultural Sciences as an FET subject in 2027, opening a new field of study to its learners and marking the beginning of an educational partnership with the Royal Agricultural Society of Natal.
The school’s current Grade 9 learners will be the first to have the opportunity to select Agricultural Sciences for Grade 10 next year. Those who choose the subject will form Howick High’s pioneer Agricultural Sciences class and will be the first learners from the school to write the subject in the National Senior Certificate examinations in 2029.
The decision follows discussions initiated by Royal Agricultural Society General Manager Wayne Muller after his appointment last year. Muller approached Howick High to share some of the Society’s plans following its move to Tweedie Hall and encouraged the school to consider introducing Agricultural Sciences.
He subsequently attended Howick High’s Grade 9 Subject Choice Evening, where he affirmed the Society’s intention to support the new programme.
The partnership is particularly fitting given the close proximity of the two organisations. With the Royal Agricultural Society now based at Tweedie Hall, Howick High and the Society are near neighbours in a district surrounded by productive farms and agricultural businesses.
Howick High’s weekly boarding facilities also enable it to accommodate learners from farming communities beyond the immediate town. A number of farming families already have children at the school, creating natural connections between the subject, the surrounding agricultural community and the working world.
Understanding the science behind agriculture
Agricultural Sciences is a scientifically based subject concerned with the production, management and use of agricultural resources. Although it has clear links to farming, much of the subject’s practical and investigative work is laboratory-based rather than dependent upon access to a school farm
It complements subjects already offered at Howick High, including Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Geography, Business Studies and Consumer Studies.
At the Grade 9 subject-choice evening earlier this year, Mrs Eleanor Glaum, who will be teaching Agricultural Sciences, noted that “Feeding the future starts with understanding the science behind it”.
“Agricultural Sciences is relevant to today’s world, practical and future-focused.”
The subject may appeal particularly to learners who enjoy Natural Sciences and Biology, are interested in how living systems function, and like applying knowledge to practical, real-world problems.
It can also introduce learners to the considerable breadth of modern agriculture. The sector draws upon science, technology, economics, animal health, food production, research and natural-resource management.
Agricultural Sciences can support a range of tertiary study and career pathways, including Veterinary Science, Food Science, Biotechnology, Agronomy, Animal Science, Environmental Science, Conservation, Agribusiness and agricultural research.
Connecting the classroom with the agricultural sector
The planned support from the Royal Agricultural Society is intended to help Howick High connect classroom learning with the people, organisations and practical work of the agricultural sector.
The school anticipates that its Agricultural Sciences learners will be offered opportunities to attend workshops, seminars and demonstration days involving agricultural organisations. Opportunities are also expected to be created for learners to participate in the annual Royal Show and apply aspects of their classroom learning in a real-world agricultural setting.
The Royal Show brings together livestock breeders, farmers, researchers, agricultural organisations, suppliers and other specialists from across the sector. This creates valuable potential for learners to encounter agricultural industries, practices and expertise beyond the confines of a textbook or laboratory.
That connection is especially relevant as the Society prepares to present the 175th Royal Show at Tweedie Hall from 7 to 11 October 2026 under the theme, “Innovation in Agriculture — Past. Present. Future.”
The Howick High partnership gives local expression to the future represented in that theme: helping a new generation of learners understand agriculture, recognise the range of opportunities within it and consider how they might one day contribute to the sector themselves.
The partnership is still at an early stage. Its real value will ultimately lie in the opportunities it creates for Howick High learners: informed subject choices, contact with agricultural knowledge and expertise, greater understanding of the working sector and clearer routes into further study and agricultural careers.
For Howick High’s first Agricultural Sciences class, that journey will begin in 2027.
Parents and learners who would like to know more about Agricultural Sciences or enrolment at Howick High School may contact the school’s Marketing Manager, Mrs Carmen Nanni, at marketing@howickhigh.co.za or 033 330 2858.
