The period running up to and soon after independence in 1965, brought numerous reforms in the education
system
in the Gambia. Student Enrolment increased over the years as the demand for secondary education escalated
in the
country; St. Joseph’s grew to a two stream school in 1975, necessitating the move to its present location
at
Campama in 1976 through the leadership of Sr. Benigna Kearnet, who later handed over to Sr. Theresa
Mundow. She
was succeeded by Mrs. Elsie Shyngle who passed the baton on to Sr. Leo. All these remarkable women,
contributed
greatly to the development of St. Joseph’s.
The importance of education in the life of an individual cannot be overstated. Education shapes
individuals in
their formative years; and imbues and inculcates them with morals and values that would govern all their
choices
in life. This is the raison d’être of St. Joseph’s as embodied in our MISSION.
With the ever increasing changes in the world and the rapid trends in development, it became even more
important
to equip our girls with the prerequisite skills and knowledge that will help them fit in a global
village. The
Anne Marie Javouhey Libray built in the 80’s remains an important facility for our girls. At St. Joseph’s
we
stand always and forever committed to providing our students the best of opportunities so that each GIRL
gets a
head start in life, to reach the dizzy heights scaled by many of our distinguished alumnae.
I took over task of carrying this ethos forward on the 5th January 2011 from Sr. Catherine Jarra who took
over
in 2000 and who was preceded by Mrs. Vicky Ndure, principal from 1993. These two strong and dynamic women
led
the school through some major challenges in education; with the former supervising the change from a five
year
course of study to a six year program: three years (Grades 7 to 9) of junior secondary and three years
(Grades
10 -12) of senior secondary, during which time St. Joseph’s had to go double shift. The school went
through yet
another change spearheaded by Sr. Catherine, this saw the transition to a single shift school offering
three
years of senior secondary education. Through all these challenges, these brave women never lost sight of
the
infrastructural development of the school, thus the building of the school hall by Mrs. Ndure and the
computer
laboratory by Sr. Catherine.
During this time, THE CURRICULUM broadened greatly, as the school strived to meet the educational
requirements
of parents and students in a modern world. To include 24 subjects at the West African Senior School
Certificate
Examination (WASSCE), which replaced the General Certificate in Education (GCE) exams. We also offer
non-examinable subjects like Information Technology and Physical Education. Our undertaking as an
educational
community is the pursuit of excellence and the development of the full potential for all.
In this 21st Century, St. Joseph’s recognizes the importance of IT as an essential tool to facilitate
better,
effective and efficient learning in school.
We endeavour, through the use of ICT to make quality education accessible to all students.
Our Research Laboratory (a converted classroom) was unveiled in December 2011. Here students and teachers
can
access the internet for research purposes. With the installation of the “Smart Room” in 2012, equipped
with an
electronic board, a projector, lap-top and responders, both teachers and students are exposed to IT
methods of
teaching and learning especially in Maths and Physics. The Progressive Maths and Science Initiatives
funded by
the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (MOBSE) have contributed immensely in improving
performance,
especially in Physics, at WASSCE. To facilitate this expansion and also help cut on the associated energy
costs
for running such a programme, the school has is now equipped with a Solar System to power the Science
Block
since August 2017.
The nature of students that come into St. Joseph’s today, warrants that we work relentlessly to bring out
and
nurture their God given talents, through taught lessons and extracurricular activities; continuously
embarking
on new initiatives and trying to consolidate on pre-existing ones both within and outside the classroom
as we
seek to provide a holistic approach to the education of our girls. St. Joseph’s believes strongly in
creating
opportunities for the girl child. We have introduced a Vocational Class in September 2015, registering
students
with aggregates 37-42. This class serves as a pre-ten class so that students who do well in this class
will be
given the opportunity in mainstream in the subsequent academic year. The rationale behind the vocational
class
is to give students who may be late developers academically as well as those from the lower tier of
society a
chance to access secondary education.
Sport continues to play a huge role in the development of our young Ladies. St. Joseph’s continues to be
rated
highly competitive in a number of sporting codes. The basketball, volleyball, football and cricket teams
have
all participated in competitions and managed to reach respectable stages of their various tournaments, as
defending champions for Volleyball and current champions for Cricket. However, the past three years have
been
particularly bad for athletics.
From 2011 to 2015, we have seen a positive trend in performance at WASSCE. There has been a steady
increase in
the number of candidates scoring grades A, B and C (credit passes) in various subjects. In 2014, St.
Joseph’s
ranked 7th out of 74 senior secondary schools in the Gambia at WASSCE. Though this may look grim to us
Josephina’s and Augustinian’s, the school prides itself in the fact that we actually add value to
academic
standing of our students: ‘we do not take the best, we create the best’.
Today, I am very confident as Principal, to say YES INDEED St. Joseph’s is making a comeback! In the year
2016,
St. Joseph’s set major record at WASSCE: for the first time in the history of this noble institution we
produced
six candidates with 9 straight credits: three from the science class and three from the commerce class.
Our ultimate goal as an educational institution is: “to make St. Joseph’s a Model School in the Gambia
that can
compete favourably in this millennium, through the adoption of best practices”
In strategic terms, St. Joseph’s Senior Secondary School now needs to consolidate its identity and to
strengthen
its educational quality. We need to rebuild St. Joseph’s and bring it back to the RADAR of Academic and
Sporting
Excellence. For this we need the support of philanthropists, well wishers and most especially our
alumnae.
I have the greatest pleasure both as principal and someone who has benefitted so much from this noble
institution to be associated with the maiden Reunion of the Saints Alumni Association Europe Chapter.
Please
remember that whatever spending you make as part of this activity is not an expense but an investment in
the
development of Your Alma Mata!
Together we can bring back the glory days of the Mighty Saints! The future is bright indeed!
ORA ET LABORA!!
(Pray and Work!)
Long live St. Josephs!
Signed: Ms. Hannah K Coker
Principal
