Page 14 - The Gonzaga Record 1986
P. 14
Board became established. It was more probing and thorough than it
received even when it was first founded.
A Radical Re-appraisal of the College
We have seen that under the headmastership of Fr Hubert Delaney SJ
the College had already begun to undergo great changes, and that the
points system of entrance into the universities was making a single stream
school unworkable. Seeing that the school would have to change anyway,
a decision was made to make a thorough job of re-consideration. It was
a wearisome hard slog of more than two years. Probably every single
thing that could be said for, and against, the school was examined in
depth. A special commission was set up by Fr Provincial which included
not only the members of the Gonzaga Interim Board of Management,
but also Headmasters of the other Jesuit Colleges, as well as representat-
ives from Fr Provincial's office.
It would be tedious for the reader to wade through a full account of
that slow and thorough re-examination. Still, some account should be
given of an event that was really decisive for the future of Gonzaga.
To begin with, it was impressed on the commission by Fr Provincial
that no options were ruled out of court. And that was acted on. After
six months of discussion the following options emerged.
FIVE OPTIONS
1. Turn Gonzaga into a comprehensive school for the general Ranelagh
area.
2. Make it into a two-stream academic school (with or without a pre-
paratory school) and charge realistic fees.
3. Enter into the Government 'free' secondary education system.
4. Amalgamate with a girls' secondary school.
5. Close Gonzaga.
Each of these options was gone into very seriously. As mentioned before,
it was a wearisome slog. After about a year of discussion a decided pre-
ference began to emerge. That preference grew stronger as time went on.
The comprehensive school option
This first option for a Ranelagh comprehensive school, did not come
out of nowhere. After the Second Vatican Council there was a noticeable
shift of emphasis in how the Church saw itself. There was a greater
awareness of social problems which might be summed up not unfairly in
a phrase that has become so common today . . . faith and justice. In
12
received even when it was first founded.
A Radical Re-appraisal of the College
We have seen that under the headmastership of Fr Hubert Delaney SJ
the College had already begun to undergo great changes, and that the
points system of entrance into the universities was making a single stream
school unworkable. Seeing that the school would have to change anyway,
a decision was made to make a thorough job of re-consideration. It was
a wearisome hard slog of more than two years. Probably every single
thing that could be said for, and against, the school was examined in
depth. A special commission was set up by Fr Provincial which included
not only the members of the Gonzaga Interim Board of Management,
but also Headmasters of the other Jesuit Colleges, as well as representat-
ives from Fr Provincial's office.
It would be tedious for the reader to wade through a full account of
that slow and thorough re-examination. Still, some account should be
given of an event that was really decisive for the future of Gonzaga.
To begin with, it was impressed on the commission by Fr Provincial
that no options were ruled out of court. And that was acted on. After
six months of discussion the following options emerged.
FIVE OPTIONS
1. Turn Gonzaga into a comprehensive school for the general Ranelagh
area.
2. Make it into a two-stream academic school (with or without a pre-
paratory school) and charge realistic fees.
3. Enter into the Government 'free' secondary education system.
4. Amalgamate with a girls' secondary school.
5. Close Gonzaga.
Each of these options was gone into very seriously. As mentioned before,
it was a wearisome slog. After about a year of discussion a decided pre-
ference began to emerge. That preference grew stronger as time went on.
The comprehensive school option
This first option for a Ranelagh comprehensive school, did not come
out of nowhere. After the Second Vatican Council there was a noticeable
shift of emphasis in how the Church saw itself. There was a greater
awareness of social problems which might be summed up not unfairly in
a phrase that has become so common today . . . faith and justice. In
12
