18 October 2023
Early in 2023, Chris Luman passed the milestone of 10 years of service to Maritzburg College as the school’s Headmaster. He arrived in Pietermaritzburg as the red, black and white celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2013 and in the decade since, much has changed under his leadership.
Luman’s focus has been on character-based education, and during his time leading the school he has obtained both a Masters degree and a Doctorate for his work on the subject. It was an issue, he contended, that needed to be tackled when he took up his post and, while he was exploring the theory in his studies, he was implementing those changes at College. Both his doctoral thesis and College were well served.
The Headmaster’s background includes being an English teacher and working in drama. He also played Currie Cup rugby and even played a year in the National Provincial Championship (NPC) in New Zealand at the age of 37. Consider now the very healthy state of College’s arts and culture programmes and the school’s rugby, and one recognises examples of how Luman’s influence has seeped into the 160-year-old school.
But the greatest changes, which also needed time to take hold, have taken place through the aforementioned character-based education. They began almost immediately upon his arrival at the end of February 2013.
“There was a lot to be done”
“When I started, there was a lot to be done. Normally, one wouldn’t do anything for at least 100 days, or even longer, but there were too many things that needed urgent attention,” Luman said.
He suggested that the school had, perhaps, become a little complacent. It wasn’t striving for success with the hunger of old. Its structure, too, was not optimal. It needed tweaking.
There was some resistance to his changes, Luman recalled. He wasn’t an Old Boy, some said, by way of explanation. Others objected, saying College wasn’t a private school. But it wasn’t a private school thing, Luman explained: “We have 480 boys in the boarding house. That’s not exactly small. So, we changed things.”
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Mentoring
“Mentoring was a big part of it,” he stated. Leadership by example is something that Luman values highly.
“We renamed all of the houses. It was a big thing. Matthew Marwick was brilliant with all of that, studying the history of the houses, the badge, and all of those sorts of things. He enjoys the historical aspect of it.”
In an institution of a century-and-a-half’s standing when he arrived, changes didn’t happen overnight. But a shift began to take place. The arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic helped to accelerate the process.
“I can honestly say now, the last two years, after quite a long struggle, the changes have cemented themselves, particularly after Covid-19. They also happened during Covid, when people really needed a sense of belonging and brotherhood. There wasn’t any sport [being played], but the boys wanted to be with their mates,” Luman said.
Traditions
In a very traditional school, one of the more important challenges he had to contend with earlier on in his term was College’s traditions, and specifically those which served no valuable purpose. The Headmaster had to take a firm and principled stand against some outdated practices.
He ensured there were consequences for disreputable actions. The message got through. He wasn’t going to compromise his standards, and he wouldn’t allow College to do that either.
Now, each Form has a one-page guide to traditions, which the boys are able to put into their top pockets, so that they know what is acceptable and what is expected of them.
While there was some resistance in the beginning, the results of focussing on character-based education have been emphatically positive, and the buy-in to Luman’s approach has been almost universal. “I know from the surveys that I have done, from being mediocre to, now, the most recent surveys say we need more time doing this. We have 90-odd percent support of this mentoring programme and character education,” he said.
No time for complacency
After a decade of working hard to implement his plan, to now seeing it delivering the results he had hoped for, to see the College community, Old Boys included, enthusiastically backing it, to see the pride and character for which the school is renowned on display, to know, beyond a shadow of doubt, that the red, black and white is ascending, must be a very satisfying feeling. But there is never time for complacency.
Maritzburg College exists in a very competitive space, surrounded by some of South Africa’s best schools, and any complacency, any pause in reaching for ever higher standards, would mean backsliding.
Yet, there is a spirit of excitement within the College community, a feeling that the identity that was once inextricably linked with the school, that of a hard-nosed but fair and excellent opponent, is soaking deeply into its fabric again.
Nurturing the KZN boys’ school environment
At the same time, the other all-boys’ schools in KZN are committed to a similar path. They have to be to keep up with their traditional rivals. For Luman, the good health of College’s traditional rivals is imperative.
“It’s important for KZN that our [sports] teams are doing well, and our schools are doing well,” he said, while speaking glowingly of a number of his fellow headmasters. Nowadays, he is among the longest tenured of those leading schools’ principals. He has earned his fellow headmasters’ respect, and it shows.
The doctorate which he recently acquired clearly means a lot to the College Headmaster. It means that he has produced research that will not only benefit the red, black and white today. It has the potential to benefit South African education, and education beyond the country’s borders, for many years to come.
Beneath the sometimes stern yet avuncular exterior of the former provincial prop is a man who cares deeply for South Africa and for its youth.
An important voice in education
That’s one of the reasons why he, three years ago, became one of the trustees of the newly formed Associated Public Board Schools of South Africa. Made up of 38 principals of leading schools, the organisation presents an important, unified voice, which is respected by the leaders of education in government.
Still, though, he continues to strive ever higher. One day, he said, when he retires as Headmaster of Maritzburg College, he will go into politics. It might be a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire, but Chris Luman is undaunted by the challenge.
At Maritzburg College, when he saw standards slipping, he chose to do something about it. Through dogged perseverance, he brought about meaningful and valuable changes.
Lasting benefits
One day, when his service to the school as its leader is over, he will continue to serve others, working hard to restore standards that have fallen, this time on a bigger scale. College, though, will continue to benefit from the character-based approach Luman introduced.
The past decade has brought about massive changes in South Africa, many of which have been negative. Life has become harder.
History will show, however, that the past decade at Maritzburg College, under Dr Chris Luman’s leadership, has been a very positive one. Holistically, the school has grown, and life has become better.
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