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Speech
by
His Excellency, Sir David Vunagi
Governor-General of Solomon Islands
At the Selwyn College 50th Anniversary Celebration – 1970 – 2020
[Delivered on 27 September, 2021]
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Since the ‘walk back to Selwyn College last Saturday’, cameras have been busy taking photographs of people on the road and on arrival at the school, taking photographs of buildings, the unveiling of the golden Jubilee monument, students, teachers and the setting of the school compound.
And as I pondered over the occasion and the reasons for our being here, I started to wonder what images those photographs will conjure up in the next 50 years when some of you (God willing) will join the next generation to celebrate the centenary of Selwyn College in 2070. I suppose that is what Jubilee celebrations are all about – retracing our past as the theme of this Jubilee says, “Celebrating the past, Building Our Future”.
- Minister of Education & Human Resources Development.
- Members of the Diplomatic Corps
- The Most Revd. Leonard Dawea, Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Melanesia.
- Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education
- The Premier and people of Guadalcanal Province
- Vice Chancellor of SINU.
- Chief Executive officer of State Owned Enterprises
- Chief Executive officer of Bread Bank
- Church leaders
- Chiefs and people in the neighbouring communities of Najilagu and Maravovo
- Principals, teachers and students of other schools
- Principal, teachers and students of Selwyn College
- Members of SOSA, friends and supporters of Selwyn College
- Ladies and gentlemen.
Thank you for inviting me to be part of this special celebration. I believe, the paramount importance of this occasion is first and foremost to thank God for the work and contributions of Selwyn College in the field of education during the last fifty years.
Anniversaries are rare occasions, they don’t happen too often and so it is an honor for me and my wife to be part of this one. If COVID19 was not an issue this event should have happened last year.
The two original schools that amalgamated to form Selwyn College had their own stories and histories. Pamua School for girls on Makira and Pawa School for boys on Ugi, both in the Makira/Ulawa Province.
Pamua was a school of many faces. The first face begun in 1910 as a boy’s school. It was started by Charles Fox, then a young priest serving in Makira. The school was dedicated to St. Michael and All Angels. In 1932 the school closed after twenty-two years, and the remaining boys were transferred to Maravovo on Guadalcanal.
The next and most colorful period of Pamua was started by Nellie Stead as a girls’ school dedicated to St Mary. Nellie Stead who was unable to build her dream school at Siota because of the Second World War and Gwaigeo, Malaita because of the Marching Rule Movement arrived at the overgrown station at Pamua in 1951 to make her dream school a reality.
As an experienced nursing sister her aim was primarily to improve the life and challenges of mothers in Melanesia by reducing child mortality and poor health in women. My wife and I attended the Centenary anniversary of Pamua in 2010.
All Hallows boys school at Pawa, was established by Reginald Hodgson on 9 June 1922. It was established as a replacement for St Barnabas School on Norfolk Island. Pawa was described as the Eton of the Pacific because it was based on the customs, rules and traditions of St Barnabas School on Norfolk Island.
However, the locations of Pawa and Pamua did not allow them to associate, exchange and compete with other schools like King George VI, St Joseph, Tenaru and Betikama Adventist School in sports and in other relational matters. In view of that, Bishop John Chisholm decided to bring the two schools closer to Honiara but in one campus. At the end of 1969 both Pawa and Pamua closed their classrooms.
The closure of Pamua and Pawa was a heart break for many old girls, boys and teachers of the two schools. Many leaders both men and women in the church and nation today were products of that era.
In January 1970 the classrooms at the newly built coeducational institution, Selwyn College, Najilagu, East Honiara, opened its doors for 50 girls and 90 boys, a total of 140 students. The school started with 2 Forms 1, 2 Form 2 and 1 form 3.
The first Headmaster was Rev Tom Tyler with a team of teachers from England and New Zealand. The teachers included John Rolfe, John Pinder, Jennifer Pinder, Jim Noland (currently a catholic Priest at Nazareth Apostil Centre, Tenaru,) Kathleen Holgate, Marjorie Hasting and others.
The first Head boy was Willie Alaha Pwaisiho. In the same year he was the Film Star in the Film – ‘This Man’. Willie Alaha Pwaisiho comes from Kalona Village, South Malaita. He became the second bishop of Malaita and is now retiring in England. The first Head girl was Hazel Osiabu from Fakana Kafo, Ataá, Malaita.
However, the idea of establishing a coeducational institution was not popular among many staunch Anglicans. They had been used to single sex schools so coeducation was seen as not appropriate culturally. Boys schools were Pawa, Alangaula, Maravovo and Vureas (Vanuatu) and girls’ schools were Pamua, Bugnana, Tasia and Torgil(Vanuatu). Many of those who opposed the idea were ex Pawa and Ex Pamua Anglicans.
There was a story that Pamua girls had put a mail-box at the point close to the school. And the Pawa boys would paddle across at night, empty the box and replenish it with letters from Pawa.
The main reason for opposing coeducation was simply that. If boys could paddle across the ocean between Ugi and Makira at night what more they would do when they live together in one enclosed compound – the school would become a breeding place for parasites.
It is told that the letter box was put there by the girls to beat their teachers who were very inquisitive in opening incoming letters for the girls. In spite of all that, I believe the positive attributes of coeducation have superseded the negatives.
During the last fifty years Selwyn College has survived the ravages of time to remain as one of the important educational institutions in Solomon Islands. In 1986 cyclone Namu destroyed Selwyn College, Najilagu. And construction work at Maravovo to relocate the school started in 1987. In 1990, Selwyn College, Najilagu closed its classrooms and moved to the Maravovo site.
In 1999 just after 8 years at the new site Selwyn College was again challenged by the ethnic tension. The students were confronted with the question whether or not they would be able to complete their education?
Despite the challenges, I think a lot has been done and I would like to commend the school for the good work. Selwyn College has been offering Form 6 since 1991 and Form 7 since 2005. And as we look back over the last 50 years, I would like to acknowledge collectively the good foundational work done by succeeding generations of teachers and students that had made Selwyn College what it is today.
I already mentioned some of the men and women who played leading roles during the pioneering stage of the College. However, let us not forget, that there are also many more unnamed heroes and heroines behind the scenes who had toiled with dedication and fortitude in establishing Selwyn College. We are thankful for their work and example. It was indeed through the lives and services of such teachers and students that we have a worthy cause for celebration today and the rest of this week.
I wish to emphasize that church schools are established not only to pass on intellectual knowledge to students. Church schools exist for a thorough and dynamic purpose. They exist to promote holistic approach to education where the three aspects of a person are developed: spiritual, intellectual and physical. These are the principles of True Religion, Sound learning and Useful Industry which Bishop George Augustus Selwyn advocated many years ago and had ever since been the pillars of education within the Anglican Church of Melanesia.
Ladies and gentlemen, it will be wrong to consider Jubilee celebrations like this one as time we only look back in history. They are also time we look forward to the next fifty years. And so it’s really what we do this year, next year and in the subsequent years that will be the stories for the next fifty years of the school.
At this point I would like to thank the Premier of Guadalcanal Province for allowing Selwyn to be established in this beautiful Island, the cross-road of Solomon Islands. Identifying land for an institution like Selwyn College is not easy’. Thank You Premier and your people.
I must also pay tribute to the Land owners of Najilagu and Maravovo and their surrounding communities. From the beginning of the school until now you have been true partners in the development of Selwyn College where young boys and girls from North to south and east to west live and learn together.
Throughout the many challenges the school had encountered in the two locations you have demonstrated trust, good will and uttermost tolerance to our students and teachers and their families. Anglican Church of Melanesia must be grateful for this exceptional friendship we shared in the past fifty years and it is my prayer that this will continue in the years to come
Minister of Education and Human Resources Development, through you I would like to thank the National Government for supporting the school in every way. Selwyn College, Maravovo was built by funds donated by people round the world, but the National Government continued to exercise oversight responsibility in regard to policy and statutory matters. For those important roles played by the National Government then and still today I would like to say -thank you.
To the ACOM Education Authority, through your office, we thank God for the vision of Bishop John Chisholm for pushing the idea of coeducation. Although it was unpopular and some members of the church did not like it, it became accepted as a norm in providing equitable education opportunity for both boys and girls in the country. Thank you too for supporting the government not only in providing financial support but also in propagating policy matters to see the general administration of the school is compatible to that expected by National Education Board. Thank you.
To members of SOSA (Selwyn Old Scholars Association) and parents. What can we say without you? You have provided the cushion for the school to fall back on when the going gets tough.
Still, we would like to request SOSA to establish a functional network to accommodate students coming out of the school every year into the different sports and other social activities under the leadership and guidance of SOSA mature men and women.
There is another proposition that we would like SOSA to consider: to establish a scholarship fund to support students who often asked to leave school because they had difficulty meeting school fees and other requirements.
And I hope SOSA members will use the celebrations to recollect as many happy memories of your time, either at Najilagu, or at Maravovo as I have of both sites. And that at the intervening years, have just been good and pleasant to you all, and that all the years to come will be likewise, full of blessings, joy and satisfaction. Thank you SOSA.
Finally, but not the least, to the teachers and students who are currently at Selwyn College. The mantle has been passed on to you. Carry it with pride and advance with courage. The protocols of administering, managing and disciplining a school must be adhered to otherwise it is not a school. Be of good example to those who are coming after you.
My prayers are that of thanksgiving and joyful hope, that those coming after you will continue the good work of making our people “Happy, Brave and Free and to make our lands a Kingdom for the Lord”.
Happy Golden Jubilee and God Bless Selwyn College. Unto God be the Glory, Great things he has done!
