Sadiq Public School

Sadiq Public School

"Do The Right, Fear No Man"
Location
Bahawalpur, Punjab,  Pakistan
Information
Established January 15, 1954
Area 451 acres (1,830,000 m2)
Website http://www.sps.edu.pk

Sadiq Public School, Bahawalpur, Punjab is a boarding college-preparatory school in Pakistan. It now also takes day pupils. It is one of the biggest schools in Pakistan and its area of 1,851 acres (7.49 km2) makes it both the largest in the country and in continental Asia.

The curriculum includes education from KG to O-level and A-level as well as local board Matriculation/Intermediate. The school has over 1400 boys and 600 girls supported by a staff of about 135.

The foundation stone of the school was laid by His Highness Ala Hazrat Al Haj Sir Sadiq Muhammad Khan Abbasi V on 4 March 1953 and the school started functioning on 18 January 1954.

History

When Pakistan came into being, there were only two public schools in the country namely the Aitchison College, Lahore and the Lawrence College, Ghora Ghali, Murree. The people of Baluchistan, Sind and Southern Punjab sent their children considerable distances to attend those schools.

The Ameer of Bahawalpur Ala Hazrat and Chief Minister of Bahawalpur State saw the need for an institution which would provide the same quality of educational opportunities to the people of the Southern Punjab.

In order to accomplish this project, the Ameer of Bahawalpur State, Ala Hazrat Nawab Sir Sadeq Mohammad Khan V allocated a sum of rupees one million and nine hundred thousand for the construction of the buildings. In addition, 2,050 acres (8.3 km2) of land was given by the Ala Hazrat at a token price. The site was transformed into a spacious campus of lawns and playing fields, in the midst of which rose nine buildings ready for use. The school started functioning on January 18, 1954 when the Ala Hazrat performed its opening ceremony.

Makhdoomzada Syed Hassan Mahmood, the then Chief Minister of Bahawalpur State was the main force behind the completion of this project which was completed in less than a year. The first batches of 'O' Level, Matriculation and Intermediate classes appeared in 1957, 1958, 1966 respectively.This school is rated 5 star hostel and school by Cambridge University[1] Sadiq Public School is one of the only two schools of Pakistan which are the members of The Headmasters' and Headmistresses Conference (HMC)[2]

Organization and curriculum

Pupils in each school are divided into houses. Houses promote inter-house competitions and mentorship opportunities.

The Senior school offer four types of diplomas/certifications. One branch is School Certificate/O-level (for grades 9-10) and the Higher Secondary School Certificate/A-level (for grades 11-12).

The other two types are Secondary School Certificate or Matriculation (for grades 9-10) and Higher Secondary School Certificate or Intermediate (for grades 11-12).

Boarding Houses

Principals

President Ayub Khan and Nawab ofKalabagh with Principal Khan Anwar Sikander Khan

At the start the school had 37 children and seven teachers. Mr. Khan Anwar Sikandar Khan was Principal for over 18 years. For his services in the field of education he was decorated with Sitara-i-Khidmat. On his retirement, Mr. Abu Zafar Haneef who was the Vice Principal took over, in March 1972.

The next two principals were Col (Retd) Zahoor ul Haq from 1977 to 1990 and Sqn Ldr. (Retd.) Agha Khalil Ahmad from 1990 to 2001. The previous principal, Prof. Mohammad Asif Malik took over in September 2002. He is a recipient of the President's Award of Pride of Performance for services in the field of education. Maj. (R) Syed Munir Ahmad, an Old Sadiqian, took the charge as Principal in Nov, 2007, after the departure of Prof. Mohammad Asif Malik to Chand Bagh School Muridke as a Principal. Major (R) Syed Munir Ahmad had served in Shell Pakistan Limited as Country Manager before taking the office of Principal Sadiq Public School. He was the first Principal of Sadiq Public School who was also an old Sadiqian (left school in 1966). He was a Member of the Executive Committee OSA (Old Sadiqians Association) Islamabad.

Prof.Saleem Raza Chaudhry took charge as 7th Principal of Sadiq Public School on the orders of Governor Punjab Sardar Latif Khosa. He had served in many public schools including Aitchison College Lahore. Before taking charge of Principal Sadiq Public School Bahawalpur he was Principal at Divisional Model College Faisalabad and Divisional Public School Faisalabad. Early in his tenure, the then Governor of Punjab (and president Board of Governors) Makhdoom Ahmad Mehmud wanted to make the school an elite-exclusive institution and so asked the principal to raise tuition fees by 140%.[3] Prof.Saleem Raza Chaudhry resisted this move and was hence removed from office. Eventually High Court Bahawalpur put the decision in the favour of Prof.Dr.Saleem Raza Chaudhry,[4] but being under pressure from the Board of Governors and having developed friction with his subordinates who were eyeing his position, he was forced to resign. He was popular with students and parents because of his personality and his stand in the fee increase issue.

Prof.Abdullah Shah, who at the time was serving as Vice Principal of Sadiq, was appointed Interim-Principal to replace Prof.Saleem Raza Chaudhry. Unfortunately the school went through a difficult period during his supervision as he gained disapproval with parents because of the decision of fee increase (although this was reversed in a lawsuit filed by the parents), and there were several reports of conflicts with faculty and staff members because of favoritism and backstabbing-politics. Allegedly due to political reasons, several office holding staff members were swapped or replaced.[5][6] The school faced a crisis of mismanagement and degrading academic performance and unfortunately he was replaced soon as well.

Prof. Nauman Ahmed Qureshi took charge as 8th principal of Sadiq in July 2014. He too is an old Sadiqian, and former teacher, head-master and vice-principal of the school. Having spent much of his life in service of Sadiq, he is focusing on improving education standards and reviving old traditions of the school.

Alumni

As of January 18, 2004, some 30 old-students of the School were sitting in the Senate, National and Provincial Assemblies.

Gen. Muhammad Musa, (Chief of Army Staff) with school girls

SADIQ has provided sitting Chairman of the Senate,Gen.Mateen Ahmed(Tamgh-e-Jurat,Medal of Honour) Chief Minister of Sindh, Federal and Provincial ministers, two serving Lieutenant Generals, four serving ambassadors, bureaucrats, industrialists, scientists and two former national cricket team captains namely Rameez Raja and Waqar Younis.

In 2003 one of its students won the first prize in the English Essay Writing Competition organized by the Royal Commonwealth Society, London. Another student got the best result in A Level examination in Asia. Old students have joined the Armed Forces of Pakistan. Old-Sadiqians made contributions during the Indo-Pakistan wars. Four former students embraced shahadat.Capt Rao Hussain, Capt Rao Waleed, and 2/Lt. Khalid Karak was decorated posthumously with Sitara-i-Jurrat, and 2/Lt. Farooq Afzal with Tamgha-i-Jurrat. (Statistics as of January 2004). Moreover, a few older students have also been awarded the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship by the United States Department of State for their Master's and Doctorates from various American universities. Students of Sadiq have recently conducted the first ever International Model United Nations Conference in the region. Our students have been winning laurels in debates, recently a team trophy was won by Sadiq at Aitchison College in All Pakistan Bilingual Declamation Contest.

Girls Section

The new campus was completed in 2008 and classes commenced in October, the same year. Separate boarding houses have been built for girls. In 2006 Salahuddin House was converted into a hostel for girls.

Information Technology Center

An IT Centre has been established adjacent to the senior school academic block. Labs are equipped with computer workstations.

Administration

Al-Maktoum Library

Administratively, the school is governed by a Board of Governors with the Governor of the Punjab as its President. District Co-ordination Officer, Bahawalpur and Principal of the school are members of the board along with the General Officer Commanding 35 Division. Six to eight Old-Sadiqians sit as members of the Board for a period of three years. The day-to-day administration is entrusted to the Principal, managed by the Executive Committee with the General Officer Commanding 35 Division as its Chairman.

Hospital

The Hospital at Sadiq is fully equipped with modern machinery and with an Ambulance with 24 hours services.

Facilities

Education

Cricket pavilion

Sports

General

Notable alumni

.Mian Yawar Zaman Minister Irrigation Punjab,Pakistan.

See also

References

  1. ↑ History and making
  2. ↑ Headmasters Conference
  3. ↑ Kashif Zafar (12 April 2013). "Parents protest 140% raise in fees". Tribune Pakistan. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  4. ↑ "Sadiq Public School principal reinstated". Dawn News. 2 June 2013. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  5. ↑ "Sadiq Official News Bulliten Issue 01" (PDF). Sadiq Public School Official. p. 6.
  6. ↑ "Sadiq News Bulliten Issue 04" (PDF). Sadiq Public School Official Website. p. 6.

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