St Bonaventure's High School

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.

History

In the years between 1920's and early 1930's 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. 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 St. Bonaventure's High School. The Catholic diocese 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. Running under the Christian administration, the schools imparted very high standards of education to upper and middle class students until 1970s when these were nationalized 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, the Christian owned organisations 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 Catholic diocese. Most Christian institutions in other parts of the nation were denationalised later on in June 2001. Privatized again in 1990's, 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. The current principals Bertram D'souza and Angela D'souza were former teachers at the school during the early 1960's and later married, becoming joint principals in late-1970's.

Living up the tradition of providing quality education, the school administration decided to expanded its operations in 1990 towards the town of Qasimabad and opened a further branch. Once built, St. Bonventure's Qasimabad branch became one of the largest schools in the city.

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.

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.

Awards and 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.

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.