LARKANA: Stage is set to kick off six-day centenary celebration of Govt Pilot Higher Secondary School, Larkana, from Monday.

The land for the school, spreads over 24 acres, was donated by the late Khanbahadur Ameer Ali Lahori which now falls within the jurisdiction of UC-8 and located in Lahori Mohalla along VIP Road.

The mega event of centenary celebration has been conceived by the school’s principal Prof Allah Bakhsh Soomro who, in consultation with the faculty, chalked out various sessions and other features to acclaim services of the institution.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Sindh president Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, who has also studied in this school, will inaugurate the event and Sindh Minister for Education Syed Sardar Shah will chair a session, according to the organisers.

The British-era E-shaped building denotes England that still stands high without any cracks and scars. It comprises 81 rooms being used as classrooms, offices, labs, drawing hall auditorium etc as well as a recently established library.

Initially, the school offered co-education. Veteran politician Dr Ashraf Abbasi, who later became the first woman deputy speaker of the National Assembly, had done her matriculation from this school in the days when Bombay University had been conducting examinations. Also, Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court Ahmed Ali A. Shaikh and World Bank consultant Ali Nawaz Memon have studied in the institution.

After Pakistan came into being, the school shifted its affiliation to the University of Sindh.

There were around 550 students enrolled in the school when it began imparting education and with the passage of time the number constantly increased. Currently, it stands with 6,300 enrolments and there are 136 teachers of different subjects providing quality education to them.

Fateh Mohammad Qureshi, commonly known as F.D. Qureshi, was its first Muslim headmaster appointed in 1948. It was in 1964 that under a president directive it was selected as President’s Project and renamed as Govt Pilot Secondary School with the induction of four workshops (metal, wood, electrical and typing) aimed at imparting technical education and skills to students.

In 1994, then prime minister Benazir Bhutto upgraded it under the Prime Minister’s Programme and its name was changed again to Govt Pilot Higher Secondary School. Pre-engineering and pre-medical disciplines were introduced and the post of headmaster was upgraded to the status of principal.

From 1919 to 1994, 46 headmasters had been posted at the school before Karim Bakhsh Khuhro became its first principal, the school sources said.

This institution of repute has produced many politician, technocrats, bureaucrats and other great personalities.

Published in Dawn, February 11th, 2019