St. Aloys Secondary School is celebrating its 50th anniversary by hosting events for students and parents across the country.

The events kicked off yesterday evening with a celebratory mass at Rwamagana Catholic Church led by Bishop Antoine Kambanda of Kibungo Diocese.

The ceremony was attended by, among others, Olivier Rwamukwaya, the Minister of State in charge of Primary and Secondary Education, and the Eastern Province governor, Odette Uwamariya.

Kambanda said the school aimed at training the young generation to grow into responsible citizens.

"The Catholic Church puts emphasis on quality education… one based on a solid foundation  to help learners meet challenges of the world. Skills, capacity based on acceptable values, norms and morals are the pillars of schools like this one,” he said.

The school first opened in 1965 with 152 students, all boys. Back then, there were no mixed schools in Rwanda.

But despite educational reforms in 1981, the school only managed to register only three girls by 1983. The girls were day scholars unlike their male counterparts.

By 1994, the school had 924 students, among them 395 girls.

Rwamukwaya congratulated the school upon its milestone.

"We are happy that the school has been doing well in a number of areas…its recent performance has been satisfactory. The Government will continue to support the school in its efforts to improve general infrastructure,” he said.

The school has 1,044 students and 50 teachers. Some 3,774 students have completed at St. Aloys.

According to the head teacher, Brother Camille Rudasingwa, the school used to have just a few classrooms, noting that since 1998, the school’s first major expansion included a new library, new classroom blocks and computer and science labs.

But Rudasingwa said more important things remains to be done, especially infrastructure development.

"We uphold the same values. These values encourage our students to be faithful believers, responsible citizens, effective communicators and lifelong learners.

"A number of classrooms were added, which has enabled the student population to grow to its current number,” he said.