St. Joseph's Secondary School
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From Johor Bahru Directory
The St. Joseph's Secondary School at Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman Andak in Johor Bahru was a Catholic missionary school founded by Rev. Father Joseph Lee of the Brothers of St. Gabriel. Located just behind the Church of the Immaculate Conception, it was the first, as well as the most important, school of the Brothers in the then Federation of Malaya. In 1986, the school relocated to Larkin, leaving the premises to the Chinese-medium St. Joseph's Primary School.
History of St. Joseph's School
In 1936, Rev. Joseph Lee proposed the building of a school to educate the Catholic children of Johor Bahru. Collecting funds to finance the project, he built 5 classrooms at a cost of 7,000 Straits dollar in 1938.
In 1939, St. Joseph's School opened with 100 pupils. Mid that year, the Government granted a financial aid of $5 per student which was then increased to $10 after World War II. With limited funding and only one teacher, two classes of students were packed into one classroom. The teacher's salary was a meagre $30 a month. Yet despite its humble beginnings, enrollment rose to 200 by 1941. In 1942, the school was closed as a result of the Japanese invasion. Operations began again in 1947, this time with 5 classes and 4 teachers. A new headmaster and an additional teacher was later appointed.
Rev. Father Thomas Chin replaced Rev. Father Joseph Lee in 1950 and started English "private" education with two classes. With the continual increase in student population, a fun-fair was organized and $12,000 was raised to build an additional 4 classrooms which was opened on 2 July 1951 by Rev. Father Goh. In the following month of August, Chong Hon Wee was appointed as Headmaster. The enrollment rose to 200 in the Chinese-medium school and 100 in the English=medium school. In 1954, the Chinese School became fully-funded by the government.
