A Brief History of Boys’ Secondary School Gindiri

The School was established in 1950 by the Sudan United Mission (SUM), British Branch and now Action Partners, who arrived in 1904. Boys’ Secondary School is an offspring of the Gindiri Middle School (equivalence of primary 5 to JSS 3) established in 1944. The school is an entirely Boarding School for boys only. The school was among the first Protestant Voluntary Agency School in the whole of Northern Nigeria. It was the fourth secondary school next to Kaduna, Keffi and Zaria in the region. The first Principal of the school, Mr. Owen David Wilmshurst, died at 102 years old 2015. His wife, Connie Wilmshurst is alive.

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VIEW COMPLETE LIST OF GRADUATES FROM BSS GINDIRI (1955-2016)

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VIEW LIST OF TEACHING STAFF OF BSS GINDIRI SINCE INCEPTION

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Location

The School is located in Plateau State in Nigeria, South – East of Jos, the State Capital and North-East of Mangu town in Mangu Local Government Area. It is 14.4km from Mangu town.

Motto of the school: The motto of the School is “For Light and Truth”, taken from Psalm 43:3.

Vision: We envisioned God fearing students, who are spiritually, morally, academically and physically equipped for the society as light and truth’;

Mission: ‘To provide the right atmosphere activities and opportunities for wholistic teaching, training, disciplining and modeling students for service to God and humanity’.

Philosophy of the School

All the SUM primary and secondary schools on the Gindiri mission compound have the same philosophy. The founding fathers believed in holistic education as a tool for producing Nigerian citizens who would effectively participate in the socio-economic development of the emerging Nigerian state. Luke 2:52 formed the basis of the philosophy of the school, ‘and Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favour God and man’. By this philosophy, students in the school are equipped spiritually, morally, academically and physical for Light and Truth in their future roles in the Nigerian society. The students are shown the ‘light’ in school so that they could in turn be light to others as well. They are challenged with the claims of Christ who is the light of the world and the ‘truth’ that leads to righteous living as well as faithful service.
Hostels and Houses: The entire students’ population is divided into four houses named after Dr. James Emmanuel Kwegyir Aggrey, Mr. George Washington Carver, Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther and Dr. David Livingstone.

History of the Houses

Aggrey – (Red House) The first hostel built in the school was done by the school community, students, teachers and other workers. The four sides of the building then represented the four houses of the school. The house was named after Dr. Kwegyir Aggrey, a Ghanaian.


He had his early education in Ghana. He later proceeded to America for further studies. He was not pleased with the deplorable social injustices against his black American brothers and so became vocal against this act as a distinguished preacher. Hence he was renowned for his popular slogan Africa my Africa, for he who is not proud of his continent, is not fit to live, and black is my colour; for he who is not proud of his colours is not fit to live’. With that he advocated that Africans should appreciate their colour and customs.

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Carver – (Blue House) This was the second house in the school and was named after Mr. George Washington Carver, an American Negro renowned for his Agricultural research.


He revolutionized agriculture and developed some products from such crops as peanuts, sweet potatoes and pecans. He was able to convince farmers then to grow these crops in place of cotton to provide new sources of income. With his fame and numerous awards, by the time of his death in 1943, no fewer than 18 schools had been named after him especially in America. His life savings of about $33,000 went to the George Washington Foundation for Agricultural Research, which Boys’ Secondary School Gindiri also benefitted from for being the first school in West African to start Practical Agricultural Science and also wrote in WASC.

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Crowther (Yellow House) - Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther was born in a small village called Osogun in Abeokuta. He was captured by a Fulani teacher and sold to the Portuguese slavers, but was later rescued by HMS Myrmidon when crossing the Atlantic Ocean.


He was taken to Sierra Leone where he was put under the care of a mission school master. Soon, his guardian noticed that Samuel was a boy of great talent. He therefore sent him to the famous Furah Bay College. Having worked in various mission schools upon graduation, Samuel took the Holy Order in 1843, thus becoming the first African to become an Anglican clergy. Three years later, he joined the mission of the Yoruba land. He was consecrated as the first African Bishop in 1864. He worked in many areas in West Africa and one of his outstanding works was the translation of the Holy Bible into the Yoruba Language.

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Livingstone (Green House) - Dr. David Livingstone came from a very poor family in Lancashire, Scotland.

He joined the missionary society in London to study medicine. In 1940, he went to Cape Town and within a short time he went round South Africa because of his desire for missionary work. He decided to explore deeper into the continent. Victoria Falls was one of the many names he could put on the map when he moved to spread the gospel. Livingstone, like many missionaries thought that the only hope for Africa was development and ‘civilization’ in European style.

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Daily Routine

DAYS	7:20am-8:00am	8:00am-8:40am	8:40am-9:20am	9:20am-10:25am	10:25am-11:-5am	11:05am- 11:45am	11:45am- 12:25pm	12:25pm-12:40pm	12:40pm- 1:20pm	1:20pm-2:00pm
Mon	1st Lesson	2nd	3rd	Briefing/Assembly	4th	5th	6th	Short Break	7th	8th
Tue.	“	“	“		“	“	“		“	“
Wed.	“	“	“		“	“	“		“	“
Thurs.	“	“	“		“	“	“		“	“
Fri.	“	“	“		“	“	“		“	“

2:00pm – 3:00pm – Lunch

3:00pm – 4:00pm – Siesta

4:00pm – 5:54pm – BB (Mondays); Games (Tuesdays);

Bible-Studies and Mid-Week Prayer

(Wednesday); Labour, Clubs, Provisions, and pocket money (Thursdays) and Games (Fridays) respectively each day.

6:00pm – 7:00pm – Supper

7:00pm – 9:00pm – Preps

10:00pm - Lights out

• SATURDAYS
• 5:45am – 6:30am - Quiet Time
• 6:30am – 7:00am - Morning Work
• 7:00am – 8:00am - Preparation for Inspection
• 8:00am – 9:00am - Inspection
• 9:00am – 9:45am - Breakfast
• 10:00am – 1:00pm - Washing
• 1:00pm – 2:00pm - Lunch
• 2:00pm – 5:00pm - FCS Choir Practice/School Activities/IBC
• 6:00pm – 7:00pm - Supper
• 7:00pm – 9:00pm - School/Personal Activities (Clubs’/FCS Programs), etc
• 10:00pm - Lights Out

Academic School Curriculum: Art, Social Sciences, Sciences and Vocational subjects were introduced and offered from the time of establishment in 1950. At one time, Boys’ Secondary School Gindiri was the only school in West Africa that wrote Agricultural Science the WASC level. Today, Boys’ Secondary School Gindiri offers a wide range of subjects in accordance with the National Curriculum for Basic Education and Senior Secondary School. The subjects offered are shown in the table below.

Basic Education Subjects.

S/N	JSS Subjects
1.	Mathematics
2.	English
3.	Civic Education
4.	Computer Education
5.	Social Studies
6.	Basic Science and Technology
7.	Creative Arts
8.	Christian Rel. Knowledge
9.	Practical Agriculture
10.	Business studies
11.	French
12.	Home Economics

Senior Secondary Education Specialized Fields of Study

S/N	Humanities	Business Studies	Science and Math.	Technology
1.	Mathematics	Mathematics	Mathematics	Mathematics
2.	English Language	English Language	English Language	English Language
3.	Civic Education	Civic Education	Civic Education	Civic Education
4.	Computer studies	Computer studies	Computer studies	Computer studies
5.	Photography	Financial Accounting	Animal Husbandry	Animal Husbandry
6.	Lit. In English	Commerce	Chemistry	Chemistry
7.	Economics	Economics	Physics	Physics
8.	CRK	CRK	CRS	CRS
9.	Geography	Geography	Agricultural Science	Agricultural Science
10.	History	Government	Biology	Tech. Drawing
11.	Visual Art	Further Mathematics	Auto Mechanics

ASSESSMENT

• The academic progress of a student is continuously assessed.
• The continuous assessment is given twice in a term. The assessments for Junior classes carry 60% while
• That of senior classes is 30%. End of term examinations are assessed at 40% from the assessment is
• cumulative, hence the students performances in continuous assessment together with his performance
• In terminal examinations are used to determine whether a student can move to the next class or not. At
• the Junior Secondary School level, a student is expected to reach at least a cumulative average of 50
• While at the Senior Secondary School level: a cumulative average of 45 is expected. Boys’ Secondary
• School Gindiri is a member of Association of Christian Schools in Nigeria (ACSN) hence the grading

System is as follows:

Senior Class		Junior Class
Mark	Grade	Mark	Grade
80-100	A1	75 – 100	A
75 – 79	B2	60 – 74	C
70 – 74	B3	45 – 59	P
65 – 69	C4	0 – 44	F
60 – 64	C5
55 – 59	C6
50 – 54	D7
45 – 49	E8
0 – 44	F9

Secret of Success of the School:

1. The philosophy of the school has remained unchanged.
2. The ownership of the school has never been changed.
3. Leadership of the school has been stable since 1950. It has had only eight principals.
4. The school has been one of the most stable of the Gindiri schools.
5. The school has qualified
6. The spiritual tone of the school has been growing steadily
7. The school has been an educational spring.
8. The school has enjoyed the support of the proprietor, P.T.A., the old students (GOSA), the immediate community and the State Government.
9. The school is strategically located.

SCHOOL CAPTAINS (HEAD BOYS) SINCE 1950.

YEAR	NAME
1950 – 1955	JOSEPH D. GOMWALK
1956	JWAMKUR GONJI
1957	SAMU’ILA . AGABUS
1958	UMARU D. GOMWALK
1959	EZEKIEL DIMKA
1960	ILIYA BINCAN AUDU
1961	MUSA GOTOM
1962	DANIEL SAROR
1963	DANIEL SAROR
1964	SAMUEL ATTAH
1965	NATHANIEL EJIGA
1966	RIMTELWAZHI
1967	SAMUEL VONKUR
1968	ISAAC UGOR
1969	ASANDU GARBA
1970	SUNDAY OLADEJO
1971	VONKUR GAMDE
1972	WILBEFORCE L. HINJARI
1973	VWETPAK ANPE
1974	TIMMAP KPARMWANG
1975	DACHOLLOM JAMBOL
1976	IHAJI ELVIS OBLU
1977	OLIVER N. NDAM
1978	JEPSHI YONBISH
1979	CHRISTOHPER DODO
1980	DIYELMAN YAKSE
1981	JOHN CALEB DASAR
1982	LUKA JATAU
1983	YAKUBU D. TELTA
1984	GERSHON SILA
1985	DIKET PLANG
1986	TITUS BEZUM
1987	GEOFFREY JWAN
1988	HARUNA AUDU
1989	TITUS ENOCK
1990	TITUS ENOCK
1991	POKOP WUSHIBA
1992	DAVOU GYANG
1993	JOFAN MONDAY
1994	ISAIAH ANUMAH
1995	SHAGALSHANG BIWUL
1996	REUEL DAKUNG
1997	WALSHAK DAGWER
1998	HOSEA DIGWA
1999	JEREMIAH PARLANG
2000	NANJWAN YALE DAMAP
2001	OCHAI EMMANEL SAMUEL
2002	SHIRYA SIMON CHONGKON
2003	NGYOLARHM SUMI LAWI
2004	SALISU ILIYA
2005	MOSES DAFWANG
2006	SHEDRACH DAFWANG
2007	PANSHAK PAUL
2008	EMMANUEL BABATUNDE
2009	JWANAN MATHEW LAT
2010	LUMI AYUBA LUKA
2011	CHATONG KEFAS
2012	GERJI MERJI
2013	SOLOMON GAMBO
2014	EDACHIE JAMES GABRIEL
2015	LUXMANWINISTANG
2016	NANG’NOM DACHUNG MAGIT