The Maryknoll Fathers
The Maryknoll Fathers
The Maryknoll Fathers began working in the Kwun Tong area in the late 1950s. At that time, the extensive reclamation project was in full swing with acres and acres of land being formed on the edge of Kowloon Bay. Factories and resettlement estates were going up as fast as the landfill sites were completed. The population of the area began to soar with consequent demand for religious, social and educational services.
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The planning of the school was delayed by the unrest of the late 1960s and the serious inflation which upset all cost estimates. But eventually ground was broken in the summer of 1971 and the construction of the school building began. The Maryknoll Fathers also planned to erect an adjacent building - The Kwun Tong Pastoral Centre - to provide religious and social services to the churches of the Great Kwun Tong area. |
At first, rented quarters were used for religious and social activities. Then, with assistance from Government in the form of educational subsidies, primary schools were erected to meet the pressing need for schooling by the many students leaving primary school. Therefore, in 1962, the Maryknoll Society asked Education Department for assistance in building a subsidized Anglo-Chinese secondary school.
In anticipation of the opening of the new building, 207 boys were enrolled for Form 1 in September, 1971. The Divine Word Fathers of Sing Yin Secondary School in Lam Tin kindly made space available to us for one year. The opening of the new school building was delayed three weeks of the tragic landslide in the adjacent Sau Mau Ping hillside site, but we were able to take possession of the new building on 25th September, 1972 with an enrollment of 507 students up to Form 3 and a teaching staff of 19. The school was formally dedicated and blessed by Bishop Francis Hsu on 1st April, 1973.
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When fully staffed, the College will have 1,200 boys studying from Form 1 to Form 7, preparing graduates for entrance to the Hong Kong universities and overseas institutions. With 30 classrooms, 6 science laboratories, 4 special purpose rooms and a spacious school hall and outdoor ballcourts, the school is well equipped to provide the academic, physical, social and moral training which is the goal of education.