MANDEVILLE, Manchester — For the De La Salle Christian brothers, a group within the Roman Catholic faith, education is more than a profession and is considered part of the divine plan for their lives.

The “Brothers”, according to Reverend Ronald Hamilton, business manager of the Catholic Pastoral Centre in Mandeville, and immediate past acting principal of the St Vincent Strambi High School in Bull Savannah, St Elizabeth, “are a group of vowed religious men who have heard the Lord’s call to sell everything and follow him.”

Started in the 17th century by French priest St John Baptist De La Salle who focused his own life on teaching, the Brothers today have taken a vow of “chastity, poverty and obedience”.

The extent of their devotion to education has resulted in the operation of schools in 80 countries worldwide, including the United States of America and in African countries like Kenya, Ethiopia and Nigeria, Hamilton said.

He said that come September, Jamaica will for the first time benefit from “Lasallian” teaching with the coming of two Americans to the St Vincent Strambi High School. They are Brother Augustine Nicoletti, who is to be the new principal and Brother James Wallace, an administrator.

According to Hamilton, their coming is “timely” as the De La Salle teaching style emphasises practical or vocational areas which is a focus of the Ministry of Education.

“They emphasise skills training which is what the country needs,” Hamilton said.

On a recent visit to Jamaica, Nicoletti and Wallace — who are both on secondment from the Manhattan College in New York — told the Jamaica Observer of plans to make an impact during their two-year stint.

“In any setting, you can always [make improvements]. We want to improve the spiritual dimension of the faith community, include some theatre, drama down the road, more opportunities for vocational education; we want to infuse life skills. We want to really teach their (children’s) minds and touch their hearts,” Nicoletti said.

Wallace said that the “aim is to get all students to do well”.

In doing his research, Nicoletti said that he discovered that Catholics are only about three per cent of the Jamaican population. However, he is undeterred.

“I don’t base my life on statistics. [Our work looks beyond] nationality, culture, race,” he said.

The two elderly men said that the commitment that they have to the work that they do will ensure that they do it for as long as they can.

“We love what we do despite tough days,” Nicoletti said.

He said that one of the main tenets of being a Brother is that they live in a community with other Brothers.

During their stay in Jamaica they will live on the school’s compound, which Nicoletti said will enable them to be available to the students all the time even outside of regular school hours. Their reimbursement will be a stipend from the church, Hamilton said.

Hamilton in his report at the school’s recent graduation outlined developments at the institution that the De La Salle Christian Brothers can build on.

He claimed that the last school year’s external examination results were at their “usual high standard” in subjects including English Language, Mathematics, Information Technology, Accounts, and Office Administration. In addition to the candidates for the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Level subjects, Hamilton said that the school also prepares students to undertake the certification assessment for the HEART Trust/NTA at levels one and two.

The former head of the 19-year-old St Vincent Strambi High School expressed confidence that the new leadership will help to continue the school’s growth path.