As part of the “Spirit of Reform” spreading throughout Christendom, the order of
Augustinian Recollects - a movement aiming for a stricter observance of the Rule
of St. Augustine- emerged during the last quarter of the sixteenth century (1588).
The Augustinian Recollects initially adopted the charism of a contemplative life.
However, the great demand for missionaries necessitated by the recently undertaken
evangelization of the Philippines called upon them to accept missionary work. In
the year 1606, the first group of Recollect missionaries reached the Philippine shores.
Mindful of the mission they had to accomplish, they spread themselves nearly all
over the Philippine archipelago, and succeeded in establishing missions in regions
not yet covered by other religious congregations.
In 1616 the Recollect Fathers built a beautiful church and convent in the city of
Cavite. They remained here, spreading the light of the Gospel and promoting Christian
civilization, until the outbreak of World War II. Determined to continue the work
which they had begun in Cavite, the Recollect Fathers founded in 1966 San Sebastian
Junior College, an exclusive high school for boys and a co-educational tertiary level
education in Commerce, Liberal Arts and a two-year course in Secretarial Science.
The only other school in the city that provided college education then was Saint
Joseph College, also run by a religious group, the Augustinian sisters.
In the early years, the two administrations forged an agreement not to offer a course
the other was specializing in. After about twenty years of peaceful co-existence,
their monopoly was threatened by the founding of other smaller private institutions
within the city and the nearby towns offering other baccalaureate degrees and vocational
courses. Such change, at that time, somehow affected the enrollment in both institutions.
Thus, in the late 80’s, simultaneous to changing the former name to San Sebastian
College-Recoletos de Cavite, the institution gained an upper hand in the competition
when the administration decided to offer courses in Computer Science, a course requiring
substantial investment but promising higher enrollment. Moreover, female students
were accepted to the high school level. In 1995, the institution also opened its
doors to graduate students by creating the Graduate School of Business, and had its
first batch of graduates in 1997.
The challenges resulting from the branching out of big universities in nearby towns
in the province like Dasmariñas and Imus have eventually forced SSC-R de Cavite to
be more aggressive in its plans if it desires to continue with its mission of providing
Caviteños with quality Christian education. In order not to lose the market, SSC-R
de Cavite has to increase its course offerings. To date, the institution already
has five main colleges, namely: the College of Accountancy, Business Administration
and HRM; the College of Criminology; the College of Engineering, Computer Science
and Technology; the College of Liberal Arts; and the College of Nursing.
To accommodate the growing number of enrollees, the administration not only added
three more buildings to the original one at the main campus, but also acquired a
property also within the city for the Basic Education Department and the Recoletos
4th Centennial Gymnasium. The Basic Education Department campus houses the Pre School,
Grade School and Junior High School Departments and the gymnasium which the OAR fathers
built as testament to the 400 years (1606-2006) of Evangelization in the country.
The institution claims the honor of providing quality Christian education as attested
to by the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities
(PAASCU) accreditation accorded the Grade School Department, the Junior High School
Department, the Accountancy, Management Accounting, Financial Management, Human Resource
Development Management (HRDM) and Marketing Management programs of the College of
Accountancy, Business and Administration (CABAHAM) and Development Communication
and BS Psychology programs of the College of Arts and Sciences and Nursing (CASN)
in the first quarter of the new millennium.
When the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013 was fully implemented in 2016-2017,
SSC-RdC fully supported the program and accepted Senior High School students from
both public and private schools at the Main Campus. A total of 840 students, distributed
to 19 sections, enrolled in Grade 11 during the first year of implementation. The
school offered Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), Accountancy,
Business and Management (ABM) and Humanities and Social Science (HUMSS) strands for
the Academic Track and Home Economics (HE), Industrial Arts (IA), and Information
and Communications Technology (ICT) for the Technical-Vocational Track. The institution
looks forward to having the program accredited by PAASCU to assure the learners of
true quality Christian education that prepares them both for the world of work and
higher education.
