LAST week schools that are part of the Marist Brothers family marked the 200 years bicentennial celebration of the Marist Brothers and the 80th anniversary of the establishment of Marist Brothers High School.
Marist is a global family that stretches out to all corners of the globe.
The Marist Brothers helped establish an education system in Fiji. Marist Brothers Primary. St Marcellin Primary School, Marist Brothers High School, St Johns College in Cawaci, St Bedes College, and Napuka Secondary School.
It is therefore only fitting to look back at the chronicles of history and see how the selfless and tireless efforts of the Marist Brothers broke the wall of racial prejudice, where once education was for whites only.
This paved the way for education in Fiji producing many great men and women who have contributed towards development in all sectors from national to regional and international levels.
The genesis of the school can be found in the first half of the 19th century from the first Marist Brother who arrived in Fiji in 1844 with the founders of the Catholic Mission.
The following extract is taken from the Souvenir Magazine that was published in 1961 during the silver jubilee celebration.
“In 1836, St Marcellin Champagnat, founder of the Marist Brothers offered the services of his Marist brothers when Pope Gregory XVI entrusted the task of evangelising the South Pacific. Between 1836-1860 no fewer than 35 Marist Brothers left France to assist the Marist Fathers in the South Pacific.
A new era for the Catholic mission started when Bishop Julian Vidal arrived in 1888 with a number of teaching Sisters and three Marist Brothers, Brothers Harvey, Vincent and Alphonsus.
A house on Waimanu Rd just above the present Lilac theatre was adapted for school purposes and September 7, 1888, they began teaching with a roll of 15 European boys. By the end of the year the roll was 20 and the following year it reached 40.
By the third year the roll was 50 and in 1889 the school was transferred to Suva St.
A small school was opened for the Indians with Brother Columba as the first headmaster ably assisted by Brother Claudius; this school developed in to the St Columba’s School, which was opened in 1936.
In 1912 St Felix College was built to meet the growing needs of European many of whom were boarders. The teachers of the secondary classes were Brothers Alphonsus, Loyola and Augustine.
With the opening of the other schools in the colony, the number of European pupils in the secondary department dwindled considerably. At the same time many Indian parents were urging the Brothers to open a secondary school for their sons; as it was impossible for the Brothers to staff two secondary schools., it was decided to throw open the secondary department at St Felix College to pupils of all races.
At the beginning of 1936 non-European boys were admitted and were taught by Brother Augustine.
Within a few weeks the Education Department wrote to Brother Alphonsus, the headmaster pointing out that as St Felix College was registered as a European school, he must dismiss all non-European pupils forthwith. This he declined to do and pointed out that no Government financial aid was given to the Brothers to teach secondary curriculum.
Reluctantly yielding to pressure, Brother Alphonsus had to tell these boys to leave. It may be pertinent to point out that there was no provision made by the department for the higher education of these boys. They could not be admitted to any government school in Suva.
However, by this time the parents of these boys were up in arms and a deputation approached the government pointing out the injustice of the situation. Just at this time Mr Mayhew from the Colonial office was in Fiji and drew up a report on education in which he recommended that interracial classes should be encouraged at St Felix College.
The following quotation from the report is interesting in view of the opposition of the local authorities.
“Secondary School classes open to all races have been attached to St Felix College and competent instruction for the Cambridge School certificate is being given. Some Indian boys are proceeding from the mix English schools to these classes.
No financial aid is asked for these classes and none ought to be given. But the classes seem to deserve not only recognition by the department which they have got, but also encouragement.”
At the same time the well-known Anglican missionary from India Mr C.F Andrews was in the colony and visited the Marist Brothers and in his book India and the Pacific, which he wrote subsequently that he found the Marist Brothers “almost in despair” at the refusal of the local authorities to allow them to admit Indian pupils to their secondary schools.
Finally the department withdrew its opposition and a new school known as Marist Brothers Secondary School opened to all races was established. Brother Augustine was transferred to Auckland and Brother Lambert was appointed the first headmaster.
He arrived in 1937 and began teaching in the basement underneath St Felix College chapel. The school began with roll of 21 the majority of whom were third formers — four of these were from St Felix and most of the others were from St Columba’s School.
In this roll were 15 Indians, five European and one Chinese. The first Fijian, the late Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, was enrolled at the beginning of 1939. At the end of that year two boys, Balram Pahalad and Faiz Mohammed, sat for the Cambridge Junior, and three Robert Maybir, Chandra Pal and Ram Nuj for the Cambridge Preliminary. All boys were successful.
The following year saw a slight increase in the number — the roll for 1938 was 26, the new arrivals came from St Felix, St Columbus and other schools.
Eighteen new pupils were admitted at the beginning of 1939 but two applications had to be refused owing to lack of accommodation. The roll now stood at 36 and it was decided that a school uniform should be adopted, and the familiar white shirt, white shorts and white shoes made its appearance.
Brother Lambert had carried on for three years without any help, but in 1940 Brother Peter was appointed as first Assistant. A second classroom was made available and the school divided into two groups. Brother Peter was appointed as sports master and two games of cricket were played against Suva Grammar School and Queen Victoria School.
1941 opened with a roll of 60, 33 of whom were in form three. This indicated that the school was becoming better known and in spite of the war, more were seeking higher education. Applications were received from schools in Lautoka, Ba and even Labasa but lack of suitable boarding facilities restricted many from attending.
With the growing number, in the same year the boys were divided in to four houses — Alphonsus, Augustine, Claudius and Tasman. When Brother Lambert left some years later Tasman became Lambert. The first sports house competition was won by Alphonsus, which was captained by Ratu Qase Vakatini. Mr Vincent Parera, a keen supporter of the school, presented a cup which was duly handed over to the Captain of the winning house.
In 1942 local military authorities closed all schools in Suva which were occupied by the New Zealand army. However, St Felix College was still allowed to operate two and a half hours a day. Owing to the military occupation all sporting activities had to be abandoned.
Early in 1943 the American invasion began and New Zealanders moved out and the Yanks moved in. School hours extended to four and a half hours. The arrival of a third teacher Brother Anthony greatly simplified the problems of teaching as there were now three classes and three teachers.
With the entry of Japan into the war, the threat was greatly increased.
All Marist Brothers were enrolled in the Civil Defence Organisation and Defence post was established in the school grounds. Many of the boys were employed in the First Aid posts and took part in the weekly practices — they often had to play the role of the casualties on these occasions many amusing incidents took place.
The Marist Brothers were responsible for the whole of the Toorak area, from the CWM Hospital to Dudley House School. Besides controlling the air-raid shelters, they were called upon to enforce the “black-out” regulations.
The diamond jubilee of Brother Alphonsus was also celebrated in 1943 and the secondary school boys presented him with a cheque of 17 pounds and ten shillings ($F46), this was supplemented by a donation of 25 pounds ($F67) on behalf of the Patel brothers who wished to show their appreciation of the work of Brother Alphonsus for the Indian community.
The school reopened in 1944 with a school roll of 105 and for the first time chemistry was introduced. The school library under the chapel was taken over and the books transferred to a classroom.
That same year Mr F.B Stephens of the New Zealand Education Department arrived in Fiji to make a report on the future of education in the country. He asked Brother Lambert for a statement on the aims and objects of the Marist Secondary School.
“This school is open to all races and consists of 85 Indians, 9 Europeans, 7 Fijians and 4 Chinese. In spite of this mixing of racial elements there is a splendid tone in the school and fine spirit of comradeship exists among the boys. They learn to respect one another and to appreciate one another’s good qualities. We believe that these racial prejudices are broken down, and a way is made clear for the removal of those barriers that unfortunately exist in the colony and tend to create disorder,” (wrote Brother Lambert.)
Among those present students five were from Labasa, seven from Ba, two from Navua, two from Rakiraki, three from Nadi and other boys came from Lautoka, Penang, Tailevu and Levuka. These boys were forced to find accommodation.”
Brother Lambert’s report concludes.
“1. The Marist Brothers Secondary School has justified its existence
2. It has won the confidence of the people of Fiji as is evidenced by the patronage it received from people of diversified races from all parts of the Colony.
3. The future expansion of the school is quite beyond the finances of the Brothers and can be effected only with co-operation of the Government of Fiji.
4. It may not be presumptive to invite such co-operation seeing that for some years now the school has shouldered the burden of providing secondary education for a larger percentage of all secondary students in Fiji and this without any financial assistance whatever.
It may be remarked incidentally that this appeal fell on deaf ears and it was not until 1956 that any financial assistance was given by Government.
“We believe that the various racial groups in the colony can live together in harmony, but to do so prejudices must be removed and opportunity given to study the viewpoints and appreciate the good that is in others. The experiment whereby all races have been brought together for Secondary Education continues to be a successful one.” (Extract from the school report of 1946)
* Next week we look at the construction of the new Marist Brothers High School as well as a timeline of the other schools that were helped established by the Marist Brothers.
