Karnataka News

Media Release

Bengaluru, Jan 5, 2016 : The St Joseph’s Indian Educational Institutions in Bengaluru, which began its activities in 1904 and all set to celebrate its 110-year anniversary on January 10 and 12, will be starting the middle school section from the coming academic year.

In a classic case of backward integration, the St Joseph’s Indian Educational Institutions had started the primary section last year. 

With the launch of the middle school section from the ensuing academic year, the St Joseph’s Indian Educational Institutions will have a complete range of educational institutions from primary to middle and high school, composite pre-university and community colleges in its sprawling campus.

However, the priests of the religious order of the Society of Jesus or Jesuits, which is running the institutions have taken a conscious decision of throwing open their doors even to girls unlike the early years, when admission was restricted only to boys. Thus, co-education is the order of the day starting with the community college in 2005, the pre-university section in 2009 and primary section in 2014 and the middle school in 2016.

Briefing reporters on the achievements of the St Joseph’s Indian Educational Institutions and major milestones over the last 110 years, Fr Sunith Prabhu, Director, said over 50,000 students have passed out and the present annual intake of students is around 4,200.

"Starting the St Joseph’s Community College has been a key outreach initiative to cater to mainly school drop-outs from the poorer and disadvantaged sections of society and also the girls to provide skills training to enable earning a livelihood," said its Director Fr Melwyn A Lobo, pointing out that over 1,000 students have benefitted in the last 10 years.

The college provides diploma courses in the disciplines of computers, ITES, retail management, beauty and wellness, hotel management and electrical and electronics, he said pointing out that electrical and electronics section is restricted to boys. Almost all the students have been helped in getting placements, he said.

The management of the St Joseph’s Indian School, which was started by the priests of the Paris Mission Society in the basement of the St Joseph’s European School building on Residency Road in 1904, was taken over in 1937 by the Society of Jesus, founded by St Ignatius of Loyola in 1540. In 1972, the school moved to its present spacious location opposite the popular and world-famous Sri Kanteerava Sports Stadium.

The religious order of the Society of Jesus or Jesuits are known for their committed life of service to people through the education and other social service ministries.

The prime focus of Jesuit education is the total formation of an individual within a community and is predominantly value oriented with a particular concern for the poor and the disadvantaged.

Jesuit institutions do what they can to make quality and value-based Jesuit education available to everyone, including the poor. Financial assistance to those in need and reduction of cost whenever possible, are means towards making this possible.

The celebrations to mark the completion of 110 years of St Joseph’s Indian Institutions begins with a Thanksgiving Eucharistic Mass to be presided over by Most Rev Dr Francis Serrao, SJ, Bishop of Shimoga, on January 10 at 9 am and will be followed by a grand Alumni Meet, and a cultural programme with Karnataka’s Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara, Dr Bernard Moras, Archbishop of Bengaluru, Dr Stanislaus D’Souza, SJ, Provincial of Karnataka Jesuit Province, former minister and an alumnus Kumar Bangarappa and N A Harris, MLA, as the chief guests will be held on January 12 at 4.30 pm.

An attraction of the cultural programme is the enactment of "Payana," a dance-drama, depicting the 110 years journey of the institutions comprising students from different sections under the leadership of popular Kannada cinema actor Sundar Raj, an alumnus, explained Josephine Flora, Principal of the Primary School.