A new school year has begun at Kingston College and our future is looking good. Two very important players, the Chairman of the Board of Governors and the Principal of the school have been installed. We are very happy to have them onboard. We bid them both a warm welcome and wish them great success in moving the college forward in the years ahead.
The challenges that face Kingston College are many. Some are spillovers from the issues that plague the Jamaican society at large.
Many old boys lament the fact that it has been a while since we won the Manning Cup. Others bemoan our recent record at Champs. And some deplore our academic performance in CSEC and other exams. The continuing concerns over the school’s infrastructure are also well known.
But I think we should also look beyond the infrastructure, the sports and the academics.
When Bishop Gibson founded Kingston College he envisioned an institution which would produce men who could tackle Jamaica’s problems. According to the book, The History of Kingston College, he more than once declared that Kingston was “the wickedest city in the world.” What would he think if he were alive today!
Bishop believed that” no great nation could be built without a sound moral base. He often spoke of the rigid moral bases of the great empires while they were growing, and how they declined as the moral base deteriorated.”
If KC is to properly fulfill this vision it needs to do more than win games and pass exams. It needs to also produce the kind of men that Jamaica desperately needs.
It’s not a mission impossible. But it’s not an easy one either. And so it is imperative that we all pull together to get the acceleration needed to launch KC on the proper trajectory for the success it deserves. And that means providing our full support to the new Board Chairman and new Principal.