St Bonaventure's High School

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St Bonaventure's High School

Established	1920s–1930s
Type	High school
Religious affiliation	Roman Catholic Church of Pakistan
Principals	Mr Bertram D'souza Mrs Angela D'souza
Administration	Catholic Board of Education
Founder	Archilles Meersman
Location	Foujdari Road, Saddar Hyderabad Sindh 71000 Pakistan
LEA	Catholic Board of Education Hyderabad Board of Education
Students	138 (approx.) per branch
Gender	Boys
Ages	6 to 15
Houses	4 houses Ayub, Jinnah, Liaquat and Tariq
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)
Coordinates: 25°23′37″N 68°22′03″E / 25.393515, 68.367534

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 Bonaventures is the oldest and the most reputed schools in the city. It is governed by the Catholic diocese of Hyderabad, Church of Pakistan.

1 History
2 Administration
3 Student life
4 Recognition
- 4.1 Notable Alumni
5 Citations

[edit] History

In the years between 1920s and early 1930s the missionary establishments in southern Indian subcontinent laid foundations for a school in Hyderabad directly run under the church to impart education onto the masses the region encompassed.^[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 wings, one for boys and one for girls named St Mary's Convent High School. Running under the 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, the Christian owned organisations 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 Catholic diocese. Most Christian institutions in other parts of the nation were denationalised later on in June 2001.^[5] Privatized again in 1990s, the schools could not retain the quality levels they once imparted towards education before the nationalization have not yet been able to achieve the same.^[1] The current principals Bertram D'souza and Angela D'souza were former teachers at the school during the early 1960s and later married, becoming joint principals in late-1970s.

Living up the tradition of providing quality education, the school administration decided to expand its operations in 1990 towards the town of Qasimabad and opened a further 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, Agha Khan University extended an offer for affiliation in 2007 for curriculum to be introduced to enable the school to attain the status of a college.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Administration

The school is administered by the Catholic diocese, part of the Diocese of Hyderabad that comes under the Church of Pakistan. The day-to-day affairs and the running of the school is headed by the principals (currently Bertram and Angela D'souza) who are charged with the recruitment of teachers and staff.

[edit] 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 cricket, baseball, basketball, tennis, volleyball and hockey, and other extracurricular activities.

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.

[edit] 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.^{[citation needed]}

Bonaventurians are famous for their discipline, education, sports and are renowned for their outstanding performances nationally and regionally in other academic contests such as debates, computing and science exhibitions, etc. In a recent website design competition, the President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf recognised the school as one of the best entrants.^[6]