Page 12 - The Gonzaga Record 1986
P. 12
are facts of life for everyone: and they were already facts of life for
Gonzaga in the early 1970s.
The Pressures for Change
The scramble to obtain points in the public examinations inevitably
brought new pressures into the school. As explained in the beginning of
the history one of the distinguishing traditions of the school had been a
rather free and wide curriculum. While the school was always concerned
about results in examinations - it would be frivolous to pretend other-
wise - still, the public exams did not dominate. There was still a sense
of educational freedom, especially in the years preceding the final
examination year. Now things began to change. At their entrance into the
fourth year of secondary schooling the boys had to start picking those
subjects in which they were more likely to do well, and thus earn further
points. This often meant dropping subjects that one was sad to see them
drop. It might be Greek, or Latin, or physics or some subject that the boy
liked but was not a subject that he was likely to earn high points in. For
many boys it was an impoverishment of their education, but they had to
make realistic choices.
Sub-division of Classes
For the school administration the problem grew worse. In order to
allow the boys to concentrate on the subjects in which they hoped to do
best, classes had to be divided. For a school where there was only one
class in each year this was fatal. For when you broke up a class into
smaller sections you had to provide extra teachers. However, the school
numbers remained the same, so that there was no hope of the
Department of Education agreeing to any increase in the number of
teachers earning incremental salaries. So the school would have to pay
from its own resources the salaries of new teachers, and also to set up and
pay for a pension fund for them. It was ruinously expensive. Rather
bravely Fr Delaney forged ahead in spite of the daunting prospects. But
before telling the story of the final solutions an account must now be
given of the very serious re-appraisal of the whole future of Gonzaga that
was going on around this time.
THE INTERIM MANAGEMENT BOARD
In 1971 the Provincial of the Irish Province, Fr Cecil McGarry SJ set
up an Interim Management Board in each of the colleges run by the
Jesuits in Ireland. For centuries the administration of the colleges con-
sisted of the Rector of the house, who was advised by a group of Consult-
ors, and a Prefect of Studies who carried on the daily running of the coll-
10
Gonzaga in the early 1970s.
The Pressures for Change
The scramble to obtain points in the public examinations inevitably
brought new pressures into the school. As explained in the beginning of
the history one of the distinguishing traditions of the school had been a
rather free and wide curriculum. While the school was always concerned
about results in examinations - it would be frivolous to pretend other-
wise - still, the public exams did not dominate. There was still a sense
of educational freedom, especially in the years preceding the final
examination year. Now things began to change. At their entrance into the
fourth year of secondary schooling the boys had to start picking those
subjects in which they were more likely to do well, and thus earn further
points. This often meant dropping subjects that one was sad to see them
drop. It might be Greek, or Latin, or physics or some subject that the boy
liked but was not a subject that he was likely to earn high points in. For
many boys it was an impoverishment of their education, but they had to
make realistic choices.
Sub-division of Classes
For the school administration the problem grew worse. In order to
allow the boys to concentrate on the subjects in which they hoped to do
best, classes had to be divided. For a school where there was only one
class in each year this was fatal. For when you broke up a class into
smaller sections you had to provide extra teachers. However, the school
numbers remained the same, so that there was no hope of the
Department of Education agreeing to any increase in the number of
teachers earning incremental salaries. So the school would have to pay
from its own resources the salaries of new teachers, and also to set up and
pay for a pension fund for them. It was ruinously expensive. Rather
bravely Fr Delaney forged ahead in spite of the daunting prospects. But
before telling the story of the final solutions an account must now be
given of the very serious re-appraisal of the whole future of Gonzaga that
was going on around this time.
THE INTERIM MANAGEMENT BOARD
In 1971 the Provincial of the Irish Province, Fr Cecil McGarry SJ set
up an Interim Management Board in each of the colleges run by the
Jesuits in Ireland. For centuries the administration of the colleges con-
sisted of the Rector of the house, who was advised by a group of Consult-
ors, and a Prefect of Studies who carried on the daily running of the coll-
10
