St Patrick's High School, Karachi

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

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. Of the Sciences, Biology, Chemistry and Physics are offered.

The school is divided into essentially three sections at the secondary level: the Cambridge section (prepares students for O and A level), the Metric section (prepares students for local examinations) and the Technical section (imparts technical or trade education)

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.

The Primary Section

The Primary section is for many Patricians the best time of their lives.

Classes and Teachers

The Primary section building is the oldest and most aesthetically pleasing in the campus. It lodgesThe Primary section is not a rich kid’s playground. Rather it is nursery for hundreds of young minds who come from all sections of the social ladder. You may expect to find the children of businessmen, professionals and clerical staff to mix and have fun together under one roof, the sole reason being that it is the school policy to give free education to the children of their clerical and manual staff. The end result is that the kids graduating from the Primary section are anything but snobs; in fact they are decent gentlemen who know how to respect a man for who he is, rather than who his father is.

The Cambridge Section

The Cambridge section (meaning the part of the school that prepares students for O level examinations) runs from class 6 to class 11. The intake is lowest of all the sections of the school as the maximum class size is restricted to 40 students in total. These students are selected by way of an open test for primary students from any school. Majority intake is usually from the primary section of the school itself, however, there is a considerable representation of students who join from other schools.

The Cambridge section, under the leadership of the renowned Mrs Henderson, was regarged as the single best O Level institution in Karachi. The sheer number of A grades per student were so high that many in Karachi education circles blamed St Patrick's to have caused grade inflation. As of 2005, half the class had 7 As or more, with roughly one-fifth of the class getting 10 As or more in their O Levels. Usually a number of students also get High Achiever Awards.

The Cambridge section was run for at least 20 years by the charismatic Mrs Yolande Henderson, who retired from the school in July 2006. She dedicated her life to the Cambridge section and is known as a person of integrity and princple who took pride in working hard and raising individuals of the highest calibre both intellectually and morally. Whether the section, without its mentor, will be able to keep up with its former glory, remains to be seen.But it hasnt been so, the new headmaster, Mr. Aloysius Dacunha, has not been able to keep up with the standards set by the preivious head. He has employed new and inexperienced teachers, replacing old and very highly regarded ones in the process. Many feel that he employs his friends among his staff whether they are capable or not. Mr Aloysius is not liked by the students in sharp contrast to Mrs.Henderson, who the students loved and adored with their hearts. The number of students applying for admission in the Cambridge section has also sharply decreased due to his eccentric behavior and unsavory policies. Many of the students leave the school after studying for only a year or two under him. The Cambridge section is no longer the place it once was.

A Levels Section

The A Levels is the only co-education section of the school.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, World History, Art and English Literature are also offered. St. Patrick’s has some of the best Cambridge results on record. The current Dean of the A Levels section is Mr. Angelo Rayer.The official website of the A Levels section: [http://www.stpats.edu.pk]

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. While Raymond is the most successful house in school history, Lobo House is the current champion.

Life after A Levels

Most students join college as soon as they graduate from the A Levels. St Patrick's students have went on to study in prestigious institutions internationally (Harvard, MIT, Yale, Imperial College, LSE, NUS, U of T, WPI etc) and locally (Aga Khan University, NUST, IBA, DUHS). However, in recent times, there is some concern about the fact that Patricians usually are not able to secure admissions in the Oxbridge duo (Oxford and Cambridge).

OP Controversy

In recent times, the A Level section has been plagued by the OP controversy. OPs, or Old Patricians as they are known, are those students who did their O Levels from the Cambridge Section, and got re-admitted to the A Level section for their A Levels. On paper, the OPs are the best students in the school as they have a high number of A grades in their O Levels. However the OPs are also a free-spirited bunch. Most OPs are well known, or rather notorious, for a having a corteous disregard for rules. As a result there exists open friction between the Dean and this particualr group of students. But given the fact that the OPs are actually good, rather outstanding students, the administration cannot do much about them. The end result: a lot of politics and excitement which keeps the school environment lively. Ironically, the OPs are usually proud to be Patricians in the first place, which leads many students to believe that the two parties, that is the administration and the OPs, are basically two sides of the same coin.

Matric Section

The Matric section prepares students for Karachi Board examinations. While most of the students in the Matric section come over from the Primary section, a select few outsiders make their way in through an open test.The Board results produced by Patricians are outstanding. Usually 97% of the Science group students get A-1 grades, while A-1s are less abundant in the Commerce group.

The Morning Assembly

The morning assembly is a decades old tradition at St Patrick’s.The day starts with the singing of the National Anthem and the school song. Scouts host the Pakistani and school flags as the whole school takes part in the singing.The Primary Section and the senior school (Cambridge, Matric, A Levels and Technical Section) assemblies are held separately. In the Primary section assembly, the tradition of saying prayers is still followed. Children say a private prayer before being dispersed to classes.Strict discipline is maintained during the assemblies. Talking, laughing or any other form of disturbances are strictly prohibited. The assembly commences on 7:45 AM sharp and usually last ten minutes. Boys and girls (of the A Levels section) are supposed to stand at attention, and everyone is supposed to take part in the singing. Usually the principal, along with a sports master, supervise the assembly. Sometimes important announcements are also made. Occasionally, after the main assembly is over and most of the students have gone to their classes, a separate A Levels assembly is held, mainly to make important announcements. The A Levels assembly is conducted by the A Levels Dean.

A Level students are often criticized for not having memorized the words of the school song.

The assembly for the Afternoon section commences on 1:00 PM. The traditions of flag hosting and singing are usually followed, although the atmosphere is more relaxed.

The School Song

Words of the school song are given below:

""'With glorious flag aloft we march

To knowledge and to truth

With wisdom’s grace

To light the face

Of all our bravest youth

With courage high and hearts aflame

We venture into life

In streets and fields we boldly wield

Our honor bright mid strife

Choir:

St Patrick’s, St Patrick’s

Rise up with faith ablaze

With hopes pure light

Disperse the night

And guide our separate ways""'

The Sports Day

The Sports Day is the premier annual event in the school. Sports has been a part of the Patz Culture for decades. The school has produced several athletes, most notably test cricketers, of international repute. The excellent facilities: a hockey field, cricket and football ground, basket ball court, volleyball court, badminton court etc, mean that Patricians get ample oppurtunity to take part in their favorite sport.However the Sports Day basically consists of athletic events, like the 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m races, the relay, hurdles, tug-of-war, javelin, discus, long jump, high jump etc. Athletes are divided into the Juniors, pre-Middlers, Middlers and Seniors categories. The athletes represent their respective sections and are differentiated by the color of their outfits: green for Matric, yellow for Technical, and blue for Cambridge section. Historically the Technical section has produced the best athletes, which is sometimes attributed to the lesser workload which the students face, thus giving them more time for sports. Subsequently the Technical section has won the Sports Day Trophy the most number of times, followed by the Matric section. The Cambridge section has won the Sports Day only once: in 2006 the men-in-blue made history by finally grabbing that elusive trophy. This was a befitting way to say farewell to Mrs. Henderson, the O Levels head, who retired that same year. It must be mentioned here that the even though the Cambridge section has won the trophy only once, the athletes-to-medal ratio is the highest for the Cambridge section, that is, given the number of students, the Cambridge section does well to take so many medals. This can be compared with the performance of countries in the Olympics: despite the fact that the USA always wins the Olympics, it’s no big deal because the USA has such a huge population. In contrast Australia wins so many medals despite its tiny population.

Notable Alumni

* Pervez Musharraf, Former President of Pakistan
* Shaukat Aziz, Former Prime Minister of Pakistan
* Rashid Minhas, Nishan-E-Haider recipient, Pakistan Air Force
* Shahnawaz Bhutto, Former Chief Minister of Sindh
* Muhammad Khan Junejo, Former Prime Minister of Pakistan
* Lal Krishna Advani, Former Home Minister of India
* Jam Sadiq Ali, Former Chief Minister of the province of Sindh, Pakistan
* Muzaffar Hussain Shah, Speaker Sindh Assembly, Former Chief Minister Sindh
* Dr. Faisal Hussain, Chief Medical Officer at Chelsea Football Club
* Wallis Mathias, Test Cricketer
* Danish Kaneria, Test Cricketer
* Faisal Iqbal, Test Cricketer
* Valerian Cardinal Gracias, Former Archbishop of Bombay
* Joseph Cardinal Cordeiro, First Cardinal of Pakistan
* Air Marshal Azim Daudpota, Former Governor of Sindh
* Anthony Theodore Lobo, Bishop of Islamabad-Rawalpindi
* Dr Asif Aslam Farrukhi, Writer
* Max John Rodrigues, Bishop of Hyderabad

References

[http://www.dawn.com/weekly/cowas/20000528.htm Dawn, 20 May 2000]

[http://www.dawn.com/weekly/cowas/20040711.htm Dawn, 11 July 2004]

[http://www.hindu.com/2005/06/05/stories/2005060514950800.htm The Hindu, 5 June 2005]

See also

* Saint Patrick's Government College

External links

* [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-61940/Karachi Encyclopædia Britannica]
* [http://www.na.gov.pk/Intro_president.htm President of Pakistan]

Protection

I have semi-protected this page, as content was being vandalised. -- 17 January 2007 This article is desperately in need of pictures. You can help by contributing photographs of the campus, school environment etc.

The Technical section also needs a decent article.