High Achieving St. Joseph's Celebrates 90 Years In Style
Innocent Selatlhwa | Monday September 17, 2018 12:20
The college took first position more than any other school in the country and has produced the first ever Golden award winner at the Excellence awards. Over the weekend, the Catholic mission school celebrated its 90th anniversary, with alumni from as far back as 1931.
Various speakers at the ceremony praised the school and the Catholic Church for the academic excellence. They were further challenged to do more.
“I have studied your results intently and learnt that for the past six years you have consistently and persistently came top in BGCSE. Six years of excellence is a momentous feat, needless to say it leaves your competitors grin with envy,” South East regional director, Labane Mokgosi said on behalf of Basic Education Minister Bagalatia Arone.
“Of paramount importance, it shows that the school management and teachers are relentless and indefatigable in their pursuit of academic excellence. Indeed St. Joseph’s College is an embodiment of academic success and stands head over shoulder above the rest.”
Mokgosi applauded the current school principal Constance Male for the sterling job. He went on to name greats of this country who went to the College, amongst them former vice president Ponatshego Kedikilwe, former Health minister Sheila Tlou, the late former VP Peter Mmusi, the late Chief Justice Julian Nganunu, the late former Botswana National Front MP Paul Rantao, Botswana Congress Party president Dumelang Saleshando and former Police commissioner Adolf Hirshfield amongst others.
Bishop Frank Nabuasah, speaking on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church challenged the school to raise the bar and be number one with better marks.
“I challenge you to be top achievers with over 90% pass rate as we celebrate 90 years. I long to see an organised grouping of alumni interested in the affairs of your alma mater. I pray that the collaboration and cooperation with the Ministry of Basic Education would continue. We seek to educate and form the future leaders of the country. Ours is a commitment to laying the foundation for lifelong learning and participation in the economy,” he said. Welcoming her guests, Male praised St. Joseph’s College students for being disciplined.
“This has been attributed to the cooperation and commitment of both staff, parents, the church and Naledi Police. The school boasts of a strong PTA, parental support and Regional office support. It is a fact that overall performance of a school is linked to the level of discipline and parental support,” she said. St. Joseph’s College is a government-aided institution founded in 1928 by the Catholic Church to form and inform Batswana children. It started off with only three students and one teacher as a primary school and now boasts of 1,725 students.