De la Salle Secondary School improves image

DE La Salle Secondary School in Port Moresby is improving on its behaviour and academic marks, school principal Samuel Ume says.

“Much has been said by the public that the school was chaotic and had a negative reputation,” Ume said.

“These negative reputation had shadowed the good things about the school. 

“I am going to take you through the brief history of De La Salle School in Port Moresby and you will realise the goodness of the school.

“History reveals that the school started on Feb 25, 1946 (just after WWII ended) by the De La Salle Brothers (for Catholic Church) as a primary school with 83 male students.”

For years the school has been building up and is the first school in Papua New Guinea to offer education to male students only from the beginning until the present time. 

Eighteen years later the school was upgraded to a secondary school level on the site of the original primary school in Bomana. 

The first principal for De La Salle Secondary School (or high school then) in Feb 12, 1964 was Br Patrick Howard and among the first school staff was Br Peter Keaga, the first PNG De La Salle brother. 

The number of students increased gradually from enrolment below 100 in the 1990s to thousands in the present time.

In 1970 the school had 200 boarding students and a staff of six Brothers and three lay teachers.

This year (2015) the school has 1039 students. 

All the De La Salle Brothers had gone and the school is currently run by the national teachers. 

The school has been surviving for years with the motto “For God and Country. Enter to Learn, Leave to Serve”. 

The mission for the school is to “Provide a stimulating and peaceful environment that enables all students to excel in their studies and deepen their Christian faith”. The school has produced a lot many men who became great leaders in the country. 

Some former De La Salle Secondary School students are (only to name a few): former PNG Prime Minister the late Sir William (Bill) Skate; Kandrian-Gloucester MP Joseph Lelang; country leader at General Electric PNG Peter Loko; and Enga provincial police commander George Kakas. 

Ume told The National that the school was improving and great changes had been happening in the school.

“The school is improving and the boys’ behaviour has improved. Boys are serious about their academic work and have respect for each other,” Ume said. 

Ume said the school representative council (SRC) was more effective and had taken a move to reject antisocial activities in the school. 

Last month the school, through its SRC, organised a Vanuatu appeal where students and parents donated clothes, food and money to the Vanuatu disaster. 

The students donated 36 bags of clothes, 25 bags of 10kg Trukai rice and more than K1000 to the Vanuatu disaster. 

Teachers at the school are qualified and are dedicated to their duty.                                                        

Ume said De La Salle was heading to a brighter future.

The school is experiencing positive turnout in the academic results from the students and that is a good reputation for the school,” he said. PNG Today /The National