St Patrick's High School is a Catholic primary and secondary school located in Saddar Town, Sindh, Karachi, Pakistan. Founded by the Jesuits in 1861, the school is the second-oldest school in Karachi. Since 1950, it has been run by the diocesan clergy of the Archdiocese of Karachi.
For the last 150 years, the school has produced well-known leaders and public figures, including two Presidents and two Prime Ministers of Pakistan, two Chief Ministers of Sindh, one Deputy Prime Minister (of India), two Cardinals of the Catholic Church, one Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (of Pakistan), and several Mayors of Karachi.
The school is run in collaboration with University of Karachi, Roman Catholic Church and managed by the Catholic Board of Education in Pakistan.
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History
The school was established on 6 May 1861, began with just three students, and officially registered as a high school in 1867. Its founder was Reverend Joseph A. Willy of the Society of Jesus (the "Jesuits"), who controlled the school until June 1935. It was then taken over by the Franciscan order until 6 October 1950. Since 1950, it has had Pakistani principals belonging to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Karachi.
Fr Stephen Raymond, a diocesan priest, became the first Pakistani principal of his alma mater in 1950. The era of Fr Raymond as principal from 1950 to 1974 is referred by many old students as the "golden era" of St Patrick's. Fr Raymond is credited with constructing the Cambridge Building (1950), St Patrick's College (1952), the Teachers' Training College (1959), the first School Auditorium (1972). The school celebrated its centenary in 1962 with the President of Pakistan, Field Marshal Mohammad Ayub Khan as the Chief Guest.
St Patrick's High School was one of the few private educational institutes that escaped nationalization in 1972.
On 6 May 2011, the former students of the school instituted the Father Stephen Raymond Gold Medal to be awarded to the top student from the Commerce Section, as part of the 150th anniversary of the school.
Commemorative stamp
To commemorate the 150 years of the school, Pakistan Post office issued a special postage stamp in the year 2011.
Notable teachers
Ambrose Dean - Art and Drawing Teacher for 59 years
Notable alumni
Sportsmen
Hockey
Cricket
Civil service
Ahmed Sadik - Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto
Aneel Khan - Former Network Engineer at Ministry of Information and Broadcasting(Civil Servant).
Clergy
Bonaventure Patrick Paul OFM† - Bishop of Hyderabad, Pakistan.
Armando Trindade† - Archbishop of Lahore (1975-2001)
James deSouza† - Catholic priest, teacher, school principal and humanitarian.
Robert D'Silva† - Catholic priest 1952-2015
Benny Mario Travas - Archbishop-elect of Karachi
Other
Khadim Hussain Baloch, cricket observer, author, and memorabilia collector
O. B. Nazareth
Ishaq Ibrahim
Muhammad Mashood Siddiqui - Philanthropist & Entrepreneur
Sir Riaz Headmaster Iqra Huffaz Boys Secondary School Mauripur