St. Joseph's College, Curepipe - Factual Section

Factual Section

1877

→ Opening of Saint Joseph's College

→ The registration of the first pupil had taken place on January 15, 1877. He was called France Plaideau. Saint Joseph's College had been born.

→ The pupils actually resided within the compound of the school. The general term used for this occurrence was "boarded".

1883

→ The first gymnasium opened in 1883. For several decades, there had always been at least one physical education teacher.

→ Sports was deeply anchored in the school tradition. The football pitch, surfacing with asphalt and maintenance of the basket-ball and volleyball grounds were always one of the preoccupations of the administration. Contribution of St. Joseph's College in the promotion of sports in Mauritius is far from being thin.

→ Music has always had an important part in the activities of the students. In the 19th century, the fanfare of the College was very appreciated. Bro. Léonien Marie, music teacher for 30 years, had created many vocations. These last years, Mr. Jean-Claude Selvon has been in charge of the choir which had participated in many public events.

1899

→ Used stamps were collected and sold and the proceeds used to purchase a statue of the Immaculate Virgin Mary. A very large stone was procured from a nearby building site and installed in the middle of the interior yard.

1927

→ The College celebrated its 50 years of existence. As a result of their recruitment, most of the students were catholic and very few students were of colour. This ethnic filtration at the stage of recruitment was widely practiced among the catholic schools. But the Brothers revolutionized this practice, Bro. Gordien in 1929 put aside the ethnic belonging from their recruitment criteria. This was to be a revolutionary decision of the Mauritian church of then. The Brothers therefore formed students without any distinction. They worked for Mauritianism. At about the same period they took a decision with high risks: they were to give the students new infrastructure, renovated and of modern standard.

→ During the cyclone on 23 January the building was quite badly damaged. Therefore in 1927 the College submitted to an expertise check and the situation of the building was found quite alarming. "It is all in wood, mostly rotten and requires urgent repairs". The students according to this expertise were not even safe from building hazards. All these factors led to the unanimous decision of constructing a new building made of re-enforced concrete. A former student, Max Boullé, architect drew up the plans for the construction of a new building.

1933

→ The school chapel was inaugurated on 17 November 1933.

1939

→ The Science block - Physics and chemistry - was added as a separate building in 1939.

→ The 1939-1945 war caused distress and difficulty to St. Joseph's College and Mauritius in general. Although there was no actual fighting in the island, communication, exports and imports - especially of food - suffered. The military requisitioned the building and transformed it into a hospital.

1940

→ In May 1940, political events in Europe got out of hands and France surrendered. England was alone in its struggle. The British Empire had taken extreme precautions. Mauritius was not spared and knew real psychological conditioning. Secret inquests by the police force were increasing. Threats came to the College. In this context of war, and under the pressure of events, a certain effervescence was in the premises. The Brothers, except a few, joined two political groups. Relationships with the higher majors were broken. They had to cope by themselves until the end of the hostilities. In the midst of the general nervousness, unfounded and useless insults were directed towards the College's director, Bro. Ignatius.

A Man of Legend

Bro. Ignatius (Jean Schmitz) had a high prestige in the Mauritian society and the world of education. Having been in the country for more than 26 years, there was only the war to insult him. He bore those insults with courage and unwavering tenacity which characterized his entire religious life.

He was from Germany, born in a militant catholic family. Young, he entered the scholastic of the Brothers of the Christians Schools and was appointed to Mauritius. He arrived in 1913. Not yet acclimatized, he had to face the difficult years of WW1 (1914-18). He was the only German among Italian, British and French religious in the community and only teacher teaching to young children in enemy territory!

Between the two wars, Bro. Ignatius, deputy rector during the time of Bro. Augustus and director as from 1934, gave all he had between the two wars. He restored the College so as to meet the requirements of modern regulations and, when he had the financial capabilities. Bro Ignatius wanted pupils of all social levels, ethnic origins and religious faiths to understand each other. The College was opened to coloured boys in 1929, and afterwards he took care the true Mauritian pupils were taken in. The College created the commercial section in 1939 under his investigation.

Arrest: On May 20, 1940, the police summoned the director. Some days later, a military vehicle came to the College and came to rest in front of the stairs of the College: Arrest of Bro. Ignatius! The scene was witnessed by 200 students. Strangely, an hour later, they brought him back in Curepipe and the Brother resumed his work. Yet, the British thought his presence awkward. On June 7, the authorities pressurized the Archbishop, Mrg. Leen, to signify their decision. Bro. Ignatius should resign from his function as Rector of the College and had not the permission to leave the College's premises.

Post war: The Education Ordinance, 1944 came into being. It offered more liberty to teaching and corrected the privilege of state schools over private ones.

The new Code needed secondary school teachers to have at least the Cambridge School Certificate. Already in the past, the young Brothers, with a French education, had to display all their talent to get prepared to secondary school English teaching. According to tradition in the Institute, they studied hard out of school. As such, Brothers from Mauritius and Réunion regularly performed very well in the College of Preceptors examinations of the London Chamber of Commerce and the University of London and Cambridge. The post-war era brought about rapid changes in the domain of education and new demands. From this point, the College would present students for the Higher School Certificate examinations and should satisfy the demands of the Department of Education so that its Form VI students may be eligible to the English Scholarship. To achieve this, more qualified personnel was required, the only solution was link the community to an English speaking Province.

→ As from 1940, the College made its contribution to the war effort. A rescue office and more than fifty beds, under the Red Cross responsibility, monopolized many rooms. In addition, two Home Guards fixed the place as their rally point and Brothers were part of those two organizations. Also, the playgrounds were used as exercise fields.

→ In June 1942, the military authorities put forward their intention to transform the College into a war hospital. Arrangements were quickly made. Fortunately, it was suggested that buildings be shared with the Royal College of Curepipe. The Brothers moved to Leclézio Avenue, in Curepipe, in a house lent by one of the College's benefactors, André Robert.

→ As from 1 July 1942, the new school system came into being. The Royal College had classes from eight to noon and St. Joseph's College from half past twelve to five. Parents and teachers were getting used to the half day of work. As such, the Préparatoire and Classe V ceased to exist in 1943, parents preferring their children to attend schools in which ladies were in charge. The older students worked better and had more time for personal work. The studies, in general, were not affected by the war.

→ The Royal College's rector, T. B. Barnes, showed himself conciliatory: he shared his resources with the Brothers. The science teachers could use the laboratories. Paradoxically, the war brought the two institutions together.

→ St. Joseph's College was in exile for four years and came back to its original premises on 28 June 1946. The College received Rs 37 500 as compensation from the military after deducting expenses for rebuilding after the cyclone of 1945.

→ The motto Ad Altiora Cum Christo - Towards Heights with The Christ - as well as the badge are born. They were created by a former student, Gaëtan Boullé.

1946

→ On the month of June, St. Joseph's college changed from the Madagascar province jurisdiction and fell under the wing of Irish missionaries.

1947/1946

→ As soon as the Scholarship of England (HSC) was available to private institutions, St. Joseph's College produced laureates. The firsts were Barnard Boullé (1947) and his younger Brother Michel (1948).

1955

→ Creation of the Old Boys Association by Gustave Rey.

1970

→ September 24: inauguration of the new Gymnasium.

1975

→ The first scholarship for Economy was taken by Dheerendra K. Dabee, a student at St. Joseph's College. In addition to Government scholarships, there were also many students who won others given by the Collège d'Agriculture, the Fondation Mauricienne, the Alliance Française, the British, French, New-Zealand, Russia and India amongst others.

1977

→ Since January 1977, the Government has taken in charge the schooling of all secondary school pupils in Mauritius and Rodrigues. Mauritius was the first country in the third world to make free education at second and third levels available to all its people.

1985

→ Mr. Daniel Koenig, former laureate of the College in 1951, became the first lay Director, or Rector in 1985. When he retired, he was replaced as Rector in 1992 by Mr. Serge Ng Tat Chung, another past pupil. Mr. Daniel Koenig was recently the manager of St. Joseph's College until his decease.

1994

→ 19 Jan: Inaugural of a new block comprising five classrooms and an amphitheater.

1997

→ The College celebrated its 120th birthday in 1997. On 19 March, a bust of St. Joseph - sculpted by Mr. Karl Hervet - was unveiled in the school yard.

1999

→ Opening of the new computer room, Espace Informatique St. Jean-Baptiste de la Salle.

2001

→ 19 Mars: St. Joseph's College's pre-vocational department is inaugurated. Its aim is to train children that have failed twice the CPE exams and give them the opportunities they need.

2009

→ Mr. Veerapen, Assistant Rector and formerly teacher at the school retires. Mr. Karl Tat Chin is entrusted with the honourable title of the new Assistant Rector.

2010

→ The Daniel Koenig Junior Science Laboratory in operation for Form 1 to Form 3 students.

2011

→ New Computer Laboratory set up - A Research/ Resource Centre with Network, Audio & Video facilities.