| St Bonaventure's High School | |
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We hold the fort
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| Location | |
| Foujdari Road, Saddar Hyderabad, Sindh, 71000, Pakistan |
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| Coordinates | |
| Information | |
| Type | High school |
| Religious affiliation(s) | Roman Catholic Church |
| Established | 1920s–1930s |
| Founder | Archilles Meersman |
| LEA | Catholic Board of Education Hyderabad Board of Education |
| Administration | Catholic Board of Education |
| Principals | Mr Bertram Desouza Mrs Angela Desouza |
| Vice Principal | Mr Samuel Arora Qas Branch Mr Abdul Rauf Sherani City Branch |
| Gender | Boys Boys & Girls, in Qasimabad branch |
| Age | 4 to 15 |
| Enrollment | 1500 in City branch (Usually 80 students per class) |
| Houses | 4 houses Ayub-Red, Jinnah-Green, Liaquat-Yellow and Tariq-Navy Blue |
| Color(s) | White, Atomic tangerine and Brown |
| Afiliations | Aga Khan University St Mary's Convent High School |
| Area | Foujdari Road 117,040 sq ft (10,873 m2) Qasimabad 88,610 sq ft (8,232 m2) |
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.
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In the years between 1920s and early 1930s the missionary establishments in the southern Indian subcontinent laid foundations for a school in Hyderabad run by the church to impart education to the masses.[1] 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.[2] 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.[3] 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.[4] Formerly a coeducational 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.[1]
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.[1] 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.[5] [1] 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.
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.
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 cricket, 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).
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), held at the President House Islamabad, the Ex-President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf recognised the school as one of the best entrants.[6] 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[7] (2006 Batch Qasimabad Branch). The team won 4th in the competition.
Syed Arif hussain Shah