JOSEPHITES (C.J.)
JOSEPHITES (C.J.)

Collège St Etienne, Kinshasa

 

St Etienne's College and its Junior School comprise the largest Josephite school in Africa. Being located in an urban setting in Limete on the outskirts of Kinshasa, the capital city of the DR Congo, it has a number of advantages over the Josephite schools in the West Kasai province. The Josephites were able to fund and build St Etienne at the beginning of the 21st Century thanks to a bequest from the late Fr Etienne, a Josephite missionary in the DR Congo. While most of the boys and girls who attend St Etienne live in and around Kinshasa, a small number of older boys are boarders at the College. St Joseph Africa Aid, a charity set up in England to support the work of Josephites in Africa, has recently funded the science laboratory at the school.

Ecole Maternelle Marie la Berceuse and Ecole Primaire Saint Jacques,  Ilebo

 

The Marie la Berceuse Infant School and the St Jacques Primary School were opened in September 2007 in the former parish church at Ilebo. In former days the Josephites used to have their own primary schools but these were 'confiscated' during a time of upheaval in the days of former President Mobutu as were the secondary schools administered by the Josephites and other religious orders. While the secondary schools were handed back to the Josephites, the former primary schools were never returned and are now under diocesan control. It was with considerable joy, therefore, that the opportunity arose to create these two new schools at Ilebo which has allowed Josephites to return to primary education once again in the Kasai.

Lycée Sainte Marie and Institut Technique Commercial, Ilebo

 

The Technical and Commercial School and St Mary's School share the same school buildings at Ilebo. Lessons are taught at the Technical and Commercial School in the morning and St Mary's, a single sex school for girls, has lessons in the afternoon. While the morning classes follow the traditional curriculum for such schools including touch typing, the girls' school specialises in teaching the skills of dress making to the girls. Ilebo was once a 24/7 thriving port and railhead but today there is little work for the 50,000 inhabitants.

 

Institut Pédagogique Disanka and Institut Technique Commercial, Domiongo

 

The Josephites established their community house, church and primary school at Domiongo in 1951. The primary school remains in existence but is now a diocesan school. The Josephites have two secondary schools at Domiongo: The Disanka Pedagogical School (Institut Pédagogique Disanka) and the Technical and Commercial School (Institut Technique Commercial). The Pedagogical school specialises in preparing those who might be interested in teaching in Primary Schools whereas the Technical and Commercial schools offers the more traditional curriculum associated with the schools including touch typing. Domingo has a large boys' boarding section and a much smaller boarding house for girls. A recent development, which started in 2008, is the availability to do woodwork at the school. This means the school can produce its own desks.

Collège Saint Joseph Bulongo

 

Collège Saint Joseph at Bulongo has the distinction of being the oldest existing Josephite School in Africa. Originating at Katoka, a suburb of Kananga - the provincial capital of the West Kasai, the College moved to Bulongo in 1950. Today, it is a co-educational school offering the opportunity boys and girls to be boarders at the school. The College offers a traditional humanities, Latin-Greek and science curriculum and consistently produces outstanding public examination results. At one time there was a separate wood-work school, established in 1954, sharing the same site but this has now been merged with the College. The furniture produced at the school, which includes beds, desks and benches, is of the highest quality.

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