Documentation of Jufelhurst school to be completed within two weeks for conservation
KARACHI: Nestled between almond trees and new high-rise buildings in the narrow streets of Soldier Bazaar, the decrepit buildings of a pre-Partition school named after the parents of a Goan Portuguese Catholic woman are being documented for conservation work, it emerged on Wednesday.
In 1931, the Jufelhurst School was established by Sybil D’Abreo on nearly one acre of land in what was then known as Cincinnatus town, a Christian neighbourhood, in the city. Ms D’Abreo used the first two letters of her mother’s name, Julia, and the first three letters of her father’s name, Felix, to name her school.
While the school comprising a large playground, two buildings and a principal’s residence withstood the rigours of time despite being nationalized in the 1970s, it was not before the year 2012 that the buildings were declared dangerous and subsequently sealed by the Sindh Building Control Authority. The SBCA also called for immediate eviction and demolition of the historical buildings but parents of the students and alumni staged protests against the move and finally managed to stop the authorities from razing them, according to Jufelhurst school headmaster Mohammad Shafiq.
According to Athar Aslam, an alumnus, the SBCA claimed that the ceilings of two rooms had caved in due to a termite infestation and atmospheric damage. “We wanted to fix the school but then almost overnight the building was sealed,” he said, adding that he had arranged a reunion of the alumni with an aim to do something for their alma mater.
The principal told Dawn that things didn’t look good after the school had been taken over by the government, as the buildings began to fall apart while the administration also changed the medium of instruction from English to Urdu.
A few years ago, he explained, the roof just collapsed in the science lab and another room. “There was a termite problem and severe damage from the rains. Thankfully, no one was inside when it happened,” said the headmaster who joined the school as a teacher in 1987. “Despite all this, we have managed to run the school quite successfully. We ensure that our students are getting a good education and our staff is up to the mark.”