Motto To Serve With Love Established 1963 School code Center N° 1025 Founded 1963 | Religious affiliation(s) Roman Catholic Authority Founder Fr. Nabben | |
Address CATHEDRAL BIGMANKON, Cameroon | ||
Our Lady of Lourdes College (previously known as Our Lady of Lourdes Secondary School ), Mankon, is a Roman Catholic, all-girls secondary school located in Mankon, Bamenda in the North-West Region of Cameroon. It is run by the Holy Rosary Sisters under the authority of the Archdiocese of Bamenda. The school is reputed for producing some of the best results during official exams in Cameroon .
Contents
History
Our Lady of Lourdes Secondary School was founded in 1963 by Father Nabben who was a Parish priest for St. Joseph's Parish, in Mankon, Bamenda. He wanted to offer education for girls, especially at a period when female education was not a priority. Upon completion of a school building in 1963, he asked Bishop Peeters, the Catholic Bishop of West Cameroon, permission to open the school. St. Joseph's Parish, Mankon generously donated a building and the establishment was named and entrusted into the care of Our Lady of Lourdes.
On 15 October 1963, its doors were opened to the first 35 girls. Our Lady of Lourdes College joined Saker Baptist College and Queen of the Rosary College, Okoyong, as the only all-girls secondary schools in Cameroon.
Throughout the years Our Lady of Lourdes College has expanded with new buildings, facilities and programs serving about seven hundred students. The association of ex-students (or alumni) is known as the Lourdes Ex-Students Association (LESA) and ex-students are called LESANs.
Since the school was opened in 1963, it has undergone dramatic changes to date. As a boarding school, it first included four dormitories for the students called: Immaculata, Rosary, Fatima and Bernadette. In 2005, a high school was built and opened under the school's principal, Sr. Eucharia Ndidi. With the addition of the high school came a change in the name of the school to Our Lady of Lourdes College. Furthermore, two more dormitories were built to accommodate the new high school. The new dormitories were named: Shanahan and Saint Paul.
Golden Jubilee (1963-2013)
The college celebrated its 50th anniversary on 5 January 2013. Preparations for the Golden Jubilee celebration were launched in Cameroon on 28 January 2012 at the college campus. Other LESA branches all over the world also launched activities in 2012 in preparation for the Golden Jubilee in 2013.
Administration
Principals:
Dormitories: The school's 700+ students live in six houses, each of which is made of one or more dormitories. Immaculata, Rosary, Fatima, and Bernadette house students in form one through form five; the two high school houses Shanahan and Saint Paul house the Lower Sixth and Upper Sixth students respectively. Each house has an assigned color - sky blue, green, red, yellow, violet and deep blue.
Prefects: Each year, students from the higher forms are appointed as prefects, and given limited authority over other students. They help run the school alongside the school employees. The primary posts are those of the Senior Prefect and Assistant Senior Prefect. Other prefects include House and Dormitory Captains who help run the dormitories; Sports Captains who help organize and run sporting events; Refectorians who ensure food is served to students as expected. There are also Sanitarians who ensure dormitories, facilities and school grounds are clean, Infirmarians who make sure students with health problems are promptly attended to, the Labor Prefect who makes sure students attend to their daily chores, Religious Prefects who assist staff with religious activities and events such as celebrating mass, Choir Prefect who helps runs the school choir including rehearsals and lessons, the Time Keeper who makes sure everyone is on time to the next daily activity. Class Prefects, and Study Prefects help with class and study-related activities for their assigned class.
Admission: Exams and interviews for admissions into the school are highly competitive with hundreds of potential students coming from all over Cameroon and beyond (accompanied by their parents and guardians) hoping for placement. The admissions process usually takes place on campus prior to the beginning of the next academic year.
Spiritual life
Clubs and social activities
Feasts
Graduating classes from 1968
High School batches since 2005