THE FIRST SENDOFF (GRADUATION) 2020

Be patient, then, brothers and sisters until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains (James 5:7)

Don Bosco Secondary School in Chingola which begun with only  thirty Grade 8 pupils in 2016,  has produced its first fruits. Complementing the words of Jesus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit (John 12:24)”. This was shown in its completion of twenty-five young people who completed their  Grade 12 at Don Bosco Secondary School in Chingola.

It has been a long term of advent (waiting) with a lot of struggles to reach this stage, but the graces of God seem sufficient. The Salesian, Fr Leszek who is the Rector of the community, and the Principal of the school, Brother Joseph Nyondo, were very happy to see the result of their hardwork, which begun in 2016. The school has fully grown now, going up to Grade 12 with not less than 417 pupils. The ceremony begun with celebration of the Holy Eucharist in the morning,  presided by  Fr Leszek SDB.

In his remarks during the ceremony, Fr Leszek SDB, the Rector of the Salesian community in Chingola, congratulated the students for their cooperation and hard work. He also gave a word of gratitude to the parents for choosing Don Bosco Secondary School for their chidren. He encouraged the graduating pupils to continue working hard as they were now going out of secondary school, to be good citizens of the nation. “This is just the beginning of many graduations, continue to work hard as you still have a few days of examinations.  If all of you  pass with 9 points or better, I promise to give to all of you scholarships, “

The Principal of the school Brother Joseph Nyondo had the following to say:

“The past five years has not been easy, especially this year with the global outbreak of the Corona Virus. Inspite of this, the school performed very well during the first Grade 9 Examinations of 2017. This particular class has been performing well in all its examinations whether at national  or district level respectively. The Shool Board is very optimistic that the first Grade 12 results will not be disappointing. One of the teachers stated that due to the good performance of the students shown in the past years, the GCE Certificate results should be excellent.”

The graduation ceremony was attended by the parents of the students, friends, all the students from Grades 8 to 12, School Staff of Don Bosco Secondary School, the Salesian Community, the Salesian Family, and different invited guests. The graduands together with their teachers, looked glamorous as they paraded in their graduation tassel caps, gowns and sashes.

In her speech, the Head Girl gave a word gratitude to their parents, the Institution and Academic Staff for the support given to them from the time they joined the school as young learners.

“We have leant a lot of things apart from academics, we will remember to use the Preventive System of Education of Don Bosco in all of our lives. Education is the matter of the heart.”

She encouraged her fellow pupils  remaining in the school to continue working hard as before, then we will be putting Don Bosco Secondary School on the map.

The event was an opportunity to celebrate the individual achievements of the learners at the end of the school career at Don Bosco Secondary School. All learners received their Certificates of Achievement. Outstanding students were awarded for exceptional achievement in different fields and not only in Academia.

It was a wonderful experience for all stakeholders.