KARACHI: The students and teachers of the St. Joseph’s Convent School were proud to be celebrating 160 years of this historic girls’ school located in the always busy and congested area of Saddar.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah was the chief guest on the occasion, accompanied by Education Minister Syed Sardar Shah.

St. Joseph’s Convent was founded in 1862 by the Daughters of the Cross of Liege, Belgium. Opening its doors for the Muslim girls, too, on the request of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah soon after the partition of the subcontinent in 1947, the school has over the years seen countless young ladies getting admission here while still at the toddler stage to then also passed out with their heads held high.

It was and still is here that they made life-long friends, fast friends along with so many memories together. They learned how to behave as they brushed up on their social skills. They learned to give respect to their teachers and elders and also get respect in return along with attaining a fine education.

Murad appreciates Christian community of Pakistan for providing quality services in the field of education

On the arrival of the guests, school Principal Sister Elizabeth Niamat, Provincial Superior Sister Angelina Francis, reverend sisters, reverend fathers, nuns from the Institute of the Daughters of the Cross of Liege, and school staff received them.

Sister Niamat shared a bit of history about the institution of learning. “Educational pursuit has evolved here unabated,” she said.

Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister said the Catholic education’s philosophy revealed a concern for an education that combined sound knowledge and skills with overall personal development. Such an education involved a high level of interpersonal relationship between the teacher and student, he said.

“It is something to be proud of that today we are commemorating 160 years of educational growth and services of the St. Joseph’s Convent School,” he said.

Mr Shah said his elder sister had received her education from St. Joseph’s School while he was enrolled at the St. Patrick’s Boys High School right the next door. He shared his memories of both, his sister’s and his schooling, and how their father, late Syed Abdullah Shah, used to pick and drop them himself.

He also said that the school celebrating its 160 years brought up a golden milestone in the history of not only the St. Joseph’s Convent School, but in the history of Pakistan. “We are duly indebted to the Christian community of Pakistan for providing quality service in the field of education,” he said.

A great thing about the St. Joseph’s School was that it had evolved with the passage of time and had incorporated a syllabus that befitted the national curriculum, the CM said, adding that he had learned that the convent school was against bullying and corporal punishment. “The school believes in nurturing young minds through counselling and kindness. That’s why excellent results are produced from here and we see students securing positions each year,” he said.

The CM was also happy to know that St. Joseph’s School welcomes back their alumni as teachers, too, and that most of their teachers had sustained themselves for more than three to four decades which made the students privileged to acquire the mentors of prestige.

Speaking on the occasion, Education Minister Sardar Shah said he was not as lucky as the CM to have received that kind of prestigious education. “I received my early education at a school set up under a neem tree where my teacher Mohammad Malook Kumbhar took classes under the open skies,” he recalled.

He said Catholic schools focused on holistic education of the child — socially, emotionally, spiritually, physically, and culturally. “What’s important is preparation for life, and a life of worth, not merely a life of work,” he said.

Earlier, the students of the school presented tableaus and a Sindhi cultural show in which they paid rich tributes to the Sufi saints of Sindh, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, mystic singer Abida Parveen and women peasants working in the fields along with men.

In conclusion, the chief minister gave away shields to the present and retired principals of different branches of the school spread all over Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2023