Dominican Convent - History
Matabeleland's First School
(Written 1956 N.S Ferris)
In October, 1895 Sister Sebastian and Sister Pancratius, from
Kingwilliamstown, arrived in Bulawayo to open the first school in
Matabeleland. It started with ten pupils. By the end of the first term
the number of pupils had increased to 35 and accommodation had become a
big problem.
The Matabele rising occurred the following year. Sister Pancratius
helped with the nursing of the sick and wounded in the hospital while
Sister Sebastian carried on the school. In spite of all difficulties,
the school progressed and the need for a Convent building became urgent.
The cost was estimated at the sum, large for those days, of £4,000. By
thriftiness on the part of the Sisters and generous donations from
parents and friends, £2,000 was raised and the Government offered the
loan of another £2,000, later converted into a gift.
The foundation stone of the Convent was laid by the Hon. Mrs. Arthur
Lawley wife of the Administrator, in 1897 and those present contributed
£253 on the spot to aid the good work. Expansion has continued ever
since the small single-storey building was opened in 1898, until we have
the large and hand-some buildings of to-day. The nursery school opposite
the Convent was completed in 1952, while the St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic
Boys' School is also helping to cope with the ever-increasing demand.
The first small total of ten pupils has now increased to nearly a
thousand; at the Convent there are 770 pupils, including juniors, and at
St. Thomas Aquinas there are 220.
Dominican Convent Primary School (also known as Convent or DC) is a
Catholic, independent, preparatory day school for girls in Bulawayo,
Zimbabwe. The school was founded in 1895 by the Dominican Sisters,
laying its claim to being the oldest school in Bulawayo and in Zimbabwe.
Initially co-educational, the institution become a girls' school in the
1950s, when St. Thomas Aquinas Primary School was opened to cater for
the boys.