Established 1908 Number of students 2,000 boys and girls Motto Nisi Dominus | Locale Suburban Address Council Rd, Swaziland Founded 1908 | |
Head-Teacher Chris Davies (grades 1–7), Zanele Zwane (frades 8–12 and A-Levels) Exam board UCLES (SPC, J.C., and IGCSE O-Level, A-Level) Grades 1–12 and A-Level (2 years) School types State school, Boarding school Similar Sifundzani High School, Sifundzani Primary School, Waterford Kamhlaba United W, Montessori Life Primary, Mbabane Central High Sch | ||
St Mark's School is a public co-educational school in Mbabane, Swaziland. Founded in 1908 and with a total population of about 2,000 students, it is one of the oldest, largest, and most prestigious schools in the country.
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Founding
St Mark's School was founded in 1908 by then-Reverend (later Bishop) Christopher Charles Watts of the Anglican Diocese of Swaziland.[1] Reverend Watts was concerned by the lack of adequate education facilities for the children of members of the rapidly expanding colonial settler community in Swaziland.
A staunch believer in quality education, Watts sought to establish a school that would eventually acquire the prestige of other Anglican boarding schools in Southern Africa (such as Michaelhouse and St John's College) and would thus provide a viable alternative for children within reasonable traveling distance of Mbabane.
At the beginning of the school year in January 1908, with just four children who gathered in the ten-by-ten-foot room of the priest in charge of Mbabane, St Mark's School was born. From its establishment, enrollment grew rapidly and with a significant amount of support from the government of Swaziland and various private contributors the school quickly became established. Because of its significant successes especially in the Cape Matriculation Examination it quickly came to be widely regarded as the most prestigious school in the country, a position that would go unchallenged for almost six decades until the formation of Waterford Kamhlaba by Michael Stern in 1963.
Motto
At its establishment, 'Nisi Dominus' was adopted as the school motto. The motto is a summarization of the Latin translation of Psalm 127: "nisi Dominus aedificaverit domum in vanum laboraverunt qui aedificant eam nisi Dominus custodierit civitatem frusta vigilavit qui custodit" meaning "unless the Lord builds the house, they work on a useless thing who build it; unless the Lord guards the community, he keeps watch in vain who guards it."
Notable alumni
Notable Old Marcians include:
as well as the following spouses to HM King Mswati III: