THE all-boys high school, St George's College on North Street in Kingston will be accepting girls in its sixth form programme, starting in the new school year.

The school will, however, remain single sex from first to fifth form. Advertisements were to start appearing today in the newspapers, inviting male and female applicants with six or more Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) subjects to do four of the 18 Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) subjects or any of its six CXC associate degrees.

Front view of the St George's College sixth form block.

Registration starts September.
According to St George's principal, Dr Fred Kennedy, who has been at the helm for about a year, the change will help to boost enrolllment which has been lagging for years.

In addition to the low number of applicants, the school had been losing a number of its lower-sixth students to colleges in the United States.
"We were getting a lot of attrition, losing a lot of boys between Six-One and Six-Two, and part of the reason was that they were taking their SATs and going abroad."

The lower and upper sixth forms combined can accommodate up to 200 students. But current enrolllment now stands at 79, of which 35 are in upper sixth. This year, St George's is hoping to enroll 150 students, of which 40 per cent will be female.

Priority, however, will be given to its own fifth formers.
The school's sixth form department has in the past had a joint sixth form programme with the Convent of Mercy (Alpha) high school, located nearby on South Camp Road.
However, this informal and temporary merger ended more than three years ago.

KENNEDY. it's going to add to the impetus of change we are trying to engender at St George's College

Kennedy came on as principal of the 155 year-old Jesuit-run institution a year ago, shortly after an islandwide survey by education researcher Dr Dennis Minott showed that the school fell behind most high schools in its CSEC passes.

Morale was very low at that time, Kennedy said, but since then there has been "a tremendous will and determination" to build back the institution and "restore good feeling" at the school.
One of their immediate responses after the report, said the new principal, has been to help the boys develop self-discipline, refocus on their goals and raise their expectations.

In their new, expanded sixth form programme, the hope is that a co-educational setting will also help to resocialise the boys.
"It's going to add to the impetus of change we are trying to engender at St George's College," said Kennedy.

The Jesuits and the archdiocese have signed off on the change and final approval has been granted by the Minister of Education, he said.

Minister Grange tours new BBC studios

Guinness Sounds of Greatness creating a dancehall for everyone

Tarrus Riley shoots video for Start Anew