Saint Patrick's High School, Karachi

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For other uses, see Saint Patrick's High School (disambiguation).

St Patrick's High School, located in Saddar Town in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan, is one of the oldest and most reputable schools in Pakistan.

1 History
2 The House System
3 Notable Alumni
4 References
5 See also
6 External links
7 Protection

[edit] History

St. Patrick’s was established on May 6 1861, and officially registered as a high School in 1867. Its founder was Rev. J.A. Willy of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), who controlled the school till 4th June 1935. It was then taken over by the Franciscan order from 5th June 1935 till 6th October 1950. Since 1950 it has had Pakistani Principals belonging to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Karachi.

The school is a multidimensional organization with a number of parallel streams of education. These streams include the technical stream comprising of polytechnic education and the Matriculation stream in which students sit for the Karachi Board examinations. The remaining two streams are the ‘O’ and ‘A’ level streams where students sit for the Cambridge examinations (UCLES now CIE). This stream is highly selective and comprises of compulsory and optional subjects, which includes Mathematics, Sciences, Social Studies, English Literature, Computers and Environment Management.

Admission or rather readmission to ‘A’ level is on merit. The school attracts some of the best students of ‘O’ levels from many schools in Karachi. This section is recognized as the ‘powerhouse’ of Mathematics and Sciences. Economics, Accounting, Urdu, Sociology and English Literature are also offered. World History, Law and Art are under consideration. St. Patrick’s has some of the best Cambridge results on record.

School facilities include separate libraries for all sections, Laboratories, including fully equipped Computer Labs, sporting fields, auditoriums, scouting and college counseling. The school has produced well known leaders and personalities, these include two Cardinals of the Catholic Church, two Prime Ministers of Pakistan, two Chief Ministers of Sindh, (The leader of the BJP party in India is also a Patrician), mayors of Karachi and well known people in nearly every field.

The school also boasts of an excellent tradition in sports, particularly the cricket and hockey teams which have consistently ranked among the top five high school teams in the state. The school has also produced a number of leading sportsmen who have gone on to play at the highest level for Pakistan.

The current Principal is Rev. Joseph Paul. The school is owned by the Roman Catholic Church in Pakistan.

[edit] The House System

A-Level students are divided into three houses named after former principals of the school, namely, Raymond, Lobo and Cordiero. The colours of the houses are Blue, Red and Purple respectively. Each year students compete in inter-house competitions throughout the academic year to gain points towards the house trophy. The House Trophy is awarded to the house with most educational and extra curricular points. Competitions include the annual athletics day, cricket, field hockey, football, and basketball tournaments, debating, singing, elocution and quiz competitions, etc.