New SMS principal ready for challenge

It has only been one week since Nereus Auguste, the newly appointed principal of the St Martin’s Secondary School (SMS) has been on the job.{{more}}

He says that he already has a plan for the school; that is to see the institution make a return to the glory days of the past as one of the top educational institutions in the nation.

Having spent 17 years in his native St Lucia as an educator, Auguste says that he is up for the challenge and is expecting positive results during his tenure at the helm of the school.

“I would like to see a happy and disciplined group of students,” Auguste told SEARCHLIGHT.

Auguste explained that he has overcome all the initial fears that came after he found out that he was the successful candidate.

He commended the staff for being very supportive, adding that they have assisted in making the smooth transition.

In relation to the business of the school, he said that one of his short term goals is to see an improvement in the academic performance.

“I would like to see a 100 percent pass rate, but I have to be realistic,” he said.

“I will be looking for between 75 and 80 percent and then perhaps build on that,” Auguste continued.

His aspirations for the school may seem impossible to achieve, but Auguste is quite optimistic that the unique approach he has adopted will bring about change.

Having described himself as a disciplinarian, Auguste told SEARCHLIGHT that he embraces the Catholic social teaching where the church asks for its education institutions to be responsible for what is going on in society and to try to get its students to understand that.

“The problem in society right now and we have to face it, is that the school system has in large measure to bear the problem out there,” he explained.

“In fact we can say that almost all criminals have passed through the school system, so we need to find a way of molding our young people so they can deal with conflict in a different manner,” Auguste said.

“I am very, very hopeful and I believe that it (his approach) will make a difference,” something that Auguste says comes from his past experience where he discovered that using methods of corporal punishment have not worked, as opposed to using alternative methods.

But despite the negative publicity that the school has received within recent times, Auguste said with confidence that the “school is on its way up.”

“I have found that there is a certain reverence for the school by those who attended before and I want to say to those persons, do not put your head down in shame.”

“St Martin’s is on the rise,” he said.

“I can promise that the staff also wants the school to do well.”

And for those bent on continued criticism, the message was clear.

“Judge us, but be honest and judge us fairly,” Auguste said. (DD)