St. Xavier's Institution

St Xavier's Institution is a boys' school in George Town, Penang, Malaysia. It was established in 1852^[1][2] and named after Saint Francis Xavier, the pioneering Christian missionary and co-founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuit Order). While being a boys' school, girls are also admitted, albeit only in Form 6. The abbreviated name for the school is SXI with the pupils known as Xaverians or Lasallians. There was a history of rivalry between St Xavier's Institution and Penang Free School.

History

SXI began in 1787 as a Malay language medium school in a hut in a jungle clearing.

In 1825, as an English medium school, it was named St. Francis Xavier's Free School. On April 20, 1825, the De La Salle Brothers took over the management of the school and its 80 pupils. In 1857 it was relocated in a building of 30x50 metres on Farquhar Street.

SXI entered its pupils for government scholarships , the prestigious Queen's Scholarships, and from 1892, for the Cambridge exams. The building was enlarged, and in 1900 the enrolment rate was over 400 pupils.

During the 1900s, Penang rose up to be a major shipping port, due to the rise of tin mining and rubber industry. Strict health regulations, the invention of motorcar, the need for rubber tyres and electricity, all these brought prosperity to Penang. SXI had over 1000 pupils. The boarding department was flourishing, the school has a spacious playing field and a cadet corps was formed.

The original building was destroyed in World War II when the allied nations bombed the school which has been used as the naval headquarters for the Imperial Army of Japan in December 1941. School was suspended during this period. When the war ended, schooling resumed with the pupils being educated in "attap huts" on what is now the school field pro tem while the buildings were reconstructed. The current building was completed in 1952.

The school is affiliated with two primary schools which had split away from the main school body after the war. SRK St. Xavier's is the main primary school, located in Air Itam, while a branch primary school, SRK St. Xavier's Cawangan is in Pulau Tikus. Although the primary schools do not have strong associations with each other, the majority of graduates from both primary schools move on to attend the secondary forms in St. Xavier's Institution.

The city of Georgetown was granted UNESCO World Heritage status in July 2008, with St. Xavier's Institution as one of the heritage sites.

La Sallian Brothers

The school was founded by the La Sallian brothers and as such, has traditionally been headed by a brother. The headmaster of the school was a Brother Director while a Brother Supervisor acted as deputy headmaster. In recent years, the post of Brother Supervisor was replaced with two assistant principals, both not of the order.

One of the more famous Brother Directors is Brother Datuk Lawrence Spitzig, who also served two terms as Brother Director of St. John's Institution, Kuala Lumpur. He served in SXI from 1960 - 1967.

The End of an Era

With the retirement of Brother Paul Ho, the last of the La Sallian Brother principals, on 19 June 2009, the school will be helmed by a government-appointee, although Brother Charles Levin remains as Brother Director. St. Xavier's Institution was one of the last remaining missionary schools in Malaysia to be led by the missionaries and, certainly, the last in Penang.

A board of governors was formed in 2008 to oversee the school upon the retirement of Brother Paul.

Three brothers remain resident in St. Xavier's, although not officially part of the school proceedings.

Affiliation

SXI is affiliated to other La Sallian Educational Institutions.

Students

As the norm in Malaysian boys secondary schools, girls are enrolled only in the lower and upper sixth form while Forms One through Five are strictly boys only.

References

External links

• St Xavier's Institution