St Bonaventure's High School

Infobox School Pakistan
name = St Bonaventure's High School

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size = 180px
latitude = 25.393515
longitude = 68.367534
dms =
motto =
motto_pl =
established = 1920s–1930s
approx =
closed =
c_approx =
type = High school
religion = Roman Catholic
Church of Pakistan
president =
head_label = Principals
head = Mr Bertram D'souza
Mrs Angela D'souza
r_head_label =
r_head =
chair_label = Administration
chair = Catholic Board of Education
founder = Archilles Meersman
founder_pl =
specialist =
street = Foujdari Road, Saddar
city = Hyderabad
county = Sindh
country = Pakistan
postcode = 71000
LEA = Catholic Board of Education
Hyderabad Board of Education
ofsted =
staff =
enrollment = 138 (approx.) per branch
gender = Boys
lower_age = 6
upper_age = 15
houses = 4 houses
Ayub, Jinnah, Liaquat and Tariq
colours =
publication =
free_label_1 = Afiliations
free_1 = Aga Khan University
St Mary's Convent High School
free_label_2 = Area
free_2 = Foujdari Road convert|117040|sqft|m2|abbr=on Qasimabad convert|88610|sqft|m2|abbr=on
free_label_3 =
free_3 =
website =
website_name =

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.__TOC__

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.cite web
url=http://www.webjournal.unior.it/Dati/19/72/Web%20Journal%203,%20Hyderabad.pdf
title=The Vanishing Glory of Hyderabad (Sindh, Pakistan)
publisher=Unior.it
accessdate=2008-05-25] 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.cite book
url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/2054372?seq=2
title=The Journal of Asian Studies
first=Katharine Smith
last=Diehl
date=August 1978
pages=pp.699-711
chapter=Review: Catholic Religious Orders in South Asia (1500-1835)
publisher=Association for Asian Studies
accessdate=2008-05-25] 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 [http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bpaulbp.html Bonaventure Patrick Paul] , former bishop of Hyderabad.cite web
url=http://www.goacom.com/village/colvale/
title=Colvale: Village with a view
publisher=Goacom
accessdate=2008-05-25] 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.cite web
url=http://hyderabad.gov.pk/hydweb/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=9&limit=1&limitstart=1
title=List of old historical building
publisher=Hyderabad District Government
accessdate=2008-05-25] 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.

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.cite web
url=http://www.mail-archive.com/[e-mail]/msg02415.html
title=News from Pakistani missionary schools
publisher=Goanet USENET forum
accessdate=2008-05-25] 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. 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.Fact|date=May 2008

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.

tudent 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.

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.Fact|date=May 2008

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 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.cite web
url=http://www.presidentofpakistan.gov.pk/NewsEventsDetail.aspx?NewsEventID=3189
title=Education: President for enhancing quality of human resource to compete in knowledge driven world
publisher=President of Pakistan's official website
accessdate=2008-05-25] The team selected from Sindh province, The Elite Clan or simply The Elites, was from St. Bonaventure's High School. The team comprised of Ahmed Mujtaba (2005 Batch Qasimabad Branch), Shakyb Malik (Head Prefect, City Branch 2005 Batch) and Asad Memoncite web
url=http://www.asadmemon.co.nr/
title=Asad Memon's Webpage
publisher=Asad Memon
accessdate=2008-09-18] (2006 Batch Qasimabad Branch). The team won 4th in the competition.

Notable Alumni

* Air Marshal Riazuddin Shaikh
* Mushtaq Ali Talpur [cite web
url=http://www.talpurs.com/shahwanis/mst.htm
title=Profile: Mushtaq Ali Talpur
publisher=Talpurs.com
accessdate=2008-03-25]
*Makhdoom Amin fahim
*Naveed Qamar
*Flight Capt M.Aurangzeb Khan(PIA)HouseCapt Tariq House(1975-1976)