St Bonaventure's High School
Encyclopedia
St Bonaventure's High School (alternatively St Bonaventure's Boys High School) is a school located on Foujdari Road in Hyderabad
in the Sindh
province of Pakistan
with another branch in the Qasimabad
town. Founded as early as the 1920s, St Bonaventure's is one of the oldest schools in the city. It is operated by the Roman Catholic diocese of Hyderabad
.
laid foundations for a school in Hyderabad run by the church to impart education to the masses.
It was, however, during the years of the partition
and the formation of the nation of Pakistan
(1945 — 1948), Archilles Meersman, a parish priest, born to a Dutch
mother and a Belgian father, at the Franciscan seminary at Karachi
, built the new school.
With deeply rooted Franciscan
ideologies, Archilles named the school after the saint Bonaventure of Bagnoregio
. Although some suggest that the school was named after the Rt Rev Bonaventure Patrick Paul, former bishop of Hyderabad.
It was later given the status of a high school
after the partition and was formally called St Bonaventure's High School.
The Catholic Board of Education
took charge of the development and running of the school and erected a church in the memory of Saint Francis Xavier
for his services in central Asia and India
. The church and the school buildings are regarded as cultural heritage monuments in Hyderabad.
Formerly a coeducation
al institution, the school was divided into two separate schools, one for boys and one for girls named St Mary's Convent High School. Running under a Christian administration, the schools imparted very high standards of education to upper and middle class students until 1970s when these were nationalised and taken over by the socialist government of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.
When in 1972, all privately owned institutions were nationalised under the Government of Pakistan
, most lost their quality and charm. The government administration failed to deliver quality education through these schools. It was not until 1992 that with the change of government the schools were denationalised and the rightful ownership was returned to the Roman Catholic diocese. Most Christian institutions in other parts of the nation were denationalised later on in June 2001.
The current principals Mr. Bertram DeSouza and Mrs. Angela DeSouza were former teachers at the school during the early 1960s and later married, becoming joint principals in late-1970s.
The school administration decided to expand its operations in 1990 towards the town of Qasimabad
and opened a branch there. Once built, St. Bonventure's Qasimabad branch became one of the largest schools in the city. With its significant growth in educational services, Aga Khan University
extended an offer for affiliation in 2007 for curricular material to be introduced to enable the school to attain the status of a college.
, baseball
, basketball
, tennis
, volleyball
and hockey
, and other extracurricular activities and syed Usman Shah Bukhari played a vital role in the recognition of school in all pakistan schooling council .
The school has affiliations with the Pakistan Boy Scouts Association
and enrols students to become boy scouts who would usually organise camping and fire-fighting events. Scouts are awarded with honorary shields for valour at the end of their school terms. Awards also include selections of prefects, usually from the 9th and the 10th grades, to recognise best students given authority to control discipline throughout the campus,head prefect is selected in 10th grade.Although among students head prefect is considered to be superior.The current captains are Saad Khan(Ayub House),Moazzam(Jinnah House),Umais K.K(Liaquat House) and Husnain chandio(Tariq House).The city campus consists of three floors & three large buildings with a huge play/assembly ground. It has a music band room & a band team who plays national anthem daily at assembly. It has physics, chemistry & computer laboratories. The principal office is located at the centre of the building.
Students here are encouraged by awarding defferent shields and prizes.
List of Head Prefects and Captains of city branch
Syed Qaim Ali Hyder Shah Naqvi(2009-2010)
Fawad Ahmed(2010-2011) Kamran Jaffri Jinnah House,Khizer Khan Liaquat House,ahfaz khan Ayub House,Ahsan Saleem Tariq House(2010-2011).
List of Head Prefect and Captains (Boys) from Qasimabad Branch
Ashok kumar Head Prefect(2010-2011) Bilal Akhund Ayub House, Ali Shan Jinnah House,Usman Hashmi Liaquat House, Abdul Salam Tariq House(2010-2011).
WASIM AHMED URSANI did matric in 1979, MBBS IN 1988 CSS IN 1989 WENT ON TO BECOME SECRETARY EDUCATION SINDH NOW POSTED AS SECRETARY ANTIQUITY DEPT.
In The All Pakistan Website Competition organized by NUML (National University of Modern Languages
), held at the President House Islamabad, the Ex-President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf
recognised the school as one of the best entrants. The team selected from Sindh
province, The Elite Clan or simply The Elites, was from St. Bonaventure's High School. The team was Ahmed Mujtaba (2005 Batch Qasimabad Branch), Shakyb Malik (Head Prefect, City Branch 2005 Batch), Asad Memon (2006 Batch Qasimabad Branch). The team won 4th in the competition.
Hyderabad, Sindh
is the second largest city in the Sindh province of Pakistan. It is the seventh largest city in the country. The city was founded in 1768 by Mian Ghulam Shah Kalhoro upon the ruins of a Mauryan fishing village along the bank of the Indus known as Neroon Kot...
in the Sindh
Sindh
Sindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...
province of Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
with another branch in the Qasimabad
Qasimabad (Hyderabad)
Qasimabad is a town in the western suburbs of the city of Hyderabad in Sindh, Pakistan.-History:Qasimabad is named after the Arab conqueror who invaded Sindh, Muhammad Bin Qasim...
town. Founded as early as the 1920s, St Bonaventure's is one of the oldest schools in the city. It is operated by the Roman Catholic diocese of Hyderabad
Roman Catholic Diocese of Hyderabad in Pakistan
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Hyderabad is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in Pakistan.Erected in 1958, the diocese was split off from the Archdiocese of Karachi....
.
History
In the years between 1920s and early 1930s the missionary establishments in the southern Indian subcontinentIndian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent, Indo-Pak Subcontinent or South Asian Subcontinent is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate from the Hindu Kush or Hindu Koh, Himalayas and including the Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, forming a land mass which extends...
laid foundations for a school in Hyderabad run by the church to impart education to the masses.
It was, however, during the years of the partition
Partition of India
The Partition of India was the partition of British India on the basis of religious demographics that led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India on 14 and 15...
and the formation of the nation of Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
(1945 — 1948), Archilles Meersman, a parish priest, born to a Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
mother and a Belgian father, at the Franciscan seminary at Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
, built the new school.
With deeply rooted Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
ideologies, Archilles named the school after the saint Bonaventure of Bagnoregio
Bonaventure
Saint Bonaventure, O.F.M., , born John of Fidanza , was an Italian medieval scholastic theologian and philosopher. The seventh Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor, he was also a Cardinal Bishop of Albano. He was canonized on 14 April 1482 by Pope Sixtus IV and declared a Doctor of the...
. Although some suggest that the school was named after the Rt Rev Bonaventure Patrick Paul, former bishop of Hyderabad.
It was later given the status of a high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
after the partition and was formally called St Bonaventure's High School.
The Catholic Board of Education
Catholic Board of Education
The Catholic Board of Education is the arm of the Roman Catholic Church in Pakistan responsible for education. Each diocese has its own board. Collectively the Catholic Church runs 534 schools, 8 colleges, and 7 technical institutes in its 2 archdioceses, 4 dioceses, and one Apostolic...
took charge of the development and running of the school and erected a church in the memory of Saint Francis Xavier
Francis Xavier
Francis Xavier, born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta was a pioneering Roman Catholic missionary born in the Kingdom of Navarre and co-founder of the Society of Jesus. He was a student of Saint Ignatius of Loyola and one of the first seven Jesuits, dedicated at Montmartre in 1534...
for his services in central Asia and India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. The church and the school buildings are regarded as cultural heritage monuments in Hyderabad.
Formerly a coeducation
Coeducation
Mixed-sex education, also known as coeducation or co-education, is the integrated education of male and female persons in the same institution. It is the opposite of single-sex education...
al institution, the school was divided into two separate schools, one for boys and one for girls named St Mary's Convent High School. Running under a Christian administration, the schools imparted very high standards of education to upper and middle class students until 1970s when these were nationalised and taken over by the socialist government of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.
When in 1972, all privately owned institutions were nationalised under the Government of Pakistan
Government of Pakistan
The Government of Pakistan is a federal parliamentary system, with an indirectly-elected President as the Head of State and Commander in Chief of the Pakistani Armed Forces, and an indirectly-elected Prime Minister as the Head of Government. The President’s appointment and term are...
, most lost their quality and charm. The government administration failed to deliver quality education through these schools. It was not until 1992 that with the change of government the schools were denationalised and the rightful ownership was returned to the Roman Catholic diocese. Most Christian institutions in other parts of the nation were denationalised later on in June 2001.
The current principals Mr. Bertram DeSouza and Mrs. Angela DeSouza were former teachers at the school during the early 1960s and later married, becoming joint principals in late-1970s.
The school administration decided to expand its operations in 1990 towards the town of Qasimabad
Qasimabad (Hyderabad)
Qasimabad is a town in the western suburbs of the city of Hyderabad in Sindh, Pakistan.-History:Qasimabad is named after the Arab conqueror who invaded Sindh, Muhammad Bin Qasim...
and opened a branch there. Once built, St. Bonventure's Qasimabad branch became one of the largest schools in the city. With its significant growth in educational services, Aga Khan University
Aga Khan University
The Aga Khan University is a coeducational research university spread over three continents. It was granted its charter in 1983 as Pakistan's first private, autonomous university. AKU was founded by His Highness the Aga Khan, and is part of the Aga Khan Development Network...
extended an offer for affiliation in 2007 for curricular material to be introduced to enable the school to attain the status of a college.
Administration
The school is administered by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hyderabad. The day-to-day affairs and the running of the school is headed by the principals (currently Bertram and Angela DeSouza) who are also charged with the recruitment of teachers and staff.Student life
The school caters students, usually termed as Bonaventurians, ranging from nursery up to the 10th grade, with each grade having several sections (A, B, C, etc.). While the students are initially given places in the sections, they are further divided into four different houses namely Ayub, Jinnah, Liaquat and Tariq after the names of the leaders of the nation. The house classification is mainly for sporting activities that include cricketCricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
, baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
, basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
, volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
and hockey
Hockey
Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...
, and other extracurricular activities and syed Usman Shah Bukhari played a vital role in the recognition of school in all pakistan schooling council .
The school has affiliations with the Pakistan Boy Scouts Association
Pakistan Boy Scouts Association
The Pakistan Boy Scouts Association is the national Scouting organization of Pakistan and has 526,626 members . Scouting was founded in Pakistan as part of the British Indian branch of The Scout Association...
and enrols students to become boy scouts who would usually organise camping and fire-fighting events. Scouts are awarded with honorary shields for valour at the end of their school terms. Awards also include selections of prefects, usually from the 9th and the 10th grades, to recognise best students given authority to control discipline throughout the campus,head prefect is selected in 10th grade.Although among students head prefect is considered to be superior.The current captains are Saad Khan(Ayub House),Moazzam(Jinnah House),Umais K.K(Liaquat House) and Husnain chandio(Tariq House).The city campus consists of three floors & three large buildings with a huge play/assembly ground. It has a music band room & a band team who plays national anthem daily at assembly. It has physics, chemistry & computer laboratories. The principal office is located at the centre of the building.
Students here are encouraged by awarding defferent shields and prizes.
List of Head Prefects and Captains of city branch
Syed Qaim Ali Hyder Shah Naqvi(2009-2010)
Fawad Ahmed(2010-2011) Kamran Jaffri Jinnah House,Khizer Khan Liaquat House,ahfaz khan Ayub House,Ahsan Saleem Tariq House(2010-2011).
List of Head Prefect and Captains (Boys) from Qasimabad Branch
Ashok kumar Head Prefect(2010-2011) Bilal Akhund Ayub House, Ali Shan Jinnah House,Usman Hashmi Liaquat House, Abdul Salam Tariq House(2010-2011).
Recognition
Noor Muhammad, a former student at the school won laurels at country-wide declamation contests (1974-80) and has become a renowned physician. Although he has moved to North America, he still remains on the top of the Dean's list.WASIM AHMED URSANI did matric in 1979, MBBS IN 1988 CSS IN 1989 WENT ON TO BECOME SECRETARY EDUCATION SINDH NOW POSTED AS SECRETARY ANTIQUITY DEPT.
In The All Pakistan Website Competition organized by NUML (National University of Modern Languages
National University of Modern Languages
- Administration :The President of Pakistan is the Chancellor while the Federal Minister of Education is the Pro-Chancellor. The day-to-day administration is controlled by a Board of Governors. Federal secretaries of different ministries and prominent citizens from both private and public sectors...
), held at the President House Islamabad, the Ex-President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf
Pervez Musharraf
Pervez Musharraf , is a retired four-star general who served as the 13th Chief of Army Staff and tenth President of Pakistan as well as tenth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. Musharraf headed and led an administrative military government from October 1999 till August 2007. He ruled...
recognised the school as one of the best entrants. The team selected from Sindh
Sindh
Sindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...
province, The Elite Clan or simply The Elites, was from St. Bonaventure's High School. The team was Ahmed Mujtaba (2005 Batch Qasimabad Branch), Shakyb Malik (Head Prefect, City Branch 2005 Batch), Asad Memon (2006 Batch Qasimabad Branch). The team won 4th in the competition.
- Syed Imran Ahmed MD FACS Surgeon in New York