N.J.V College Karachi

ings in Karachi, the school starkly contrasts with structures built after the creation of Pakistan in 1947 which are aesthetically imperfect and architecturally flawed. The yellow sandstone building that houses the NJV High School is not only a heritage building, but also has historic value, as the Sindh Assembly was temporarily held in its eastern portion. However, during the era of President Ayub Khan, the assembly was shifted again to its original building. After a passage of 157 years, the school's grandeur attracts citizens from the city and foreigners alike. The heritage building is also important because it imparted decent education to both poor and privileged children. "Children of secretaries in the Sindh government along with poor students of working classes hailing from Lyari and Malir both studied at the NJV High School, and teachers would never differentiate between them," Hasan Mansoor, a senior journalist and Karachi Bureau Chief of AFP said. "I was admitted in the NJV High School in 1978 and passed my Matriculation examinations from there in 1983. Mirza Aijaz Baig, grandson of Mirza Khaleej Baig was our headmaster," he said. "Shamsharul Haidery is one of the best Sindhi language poets and Tejal Bewas who died last month was one of the best Sindhi writers. They were quite well off but their sons studied with me," Mansoor said. "Even the son of a feudal lord from Jacobabad who is now a senior police official studied with me," he said. Mansoor attributed parents' faith in the school to the teachers' commitment to standard education. "Teachers would give priority to education. Even if there was a free period, they would love to teach us," he said. "Students never missed their classes and were not even bothered if lectures continued during recess," he added. "The NJV High School imparted education in Sindhi medium in the morning and in Urdu medium in the afternoon," he said. "Today there is a chasm in the education system in the city as elsewhere in Pakistan. On one hand, government schools are producing clerks while on the other, elite schools are producing bureaucrats," Mansoor said with bitterness. The school has the distinction that the great Sindhi short story writer and newspaper columnist Amar Jaleel not only studied in this school but also emerged as a fine player in first class cricket and a wicketkeeper. The NJV High School was also declared a Model School in 2008 after it was renovated. It is one of the 600 listed heritage buildings in Karachi. However, it should be remembered that its grandeur has been the outcome of the dream of Sir Bartle Frere who made significant contribution to the establishment of Karachi and its fine teachers and students. "Frère did not forget the importance of education and started an English school in Karachi, Sindh in 1852 (now the Narayan Jagannath High School) thus encouraging others to start schools in Karachi. Actually the lead had already been given when Col. Preedy who, on his own accord and at his own cost commenced a school somewhere off Lawrence Road, the present Church Mission High School. The Grammar School of Karachi, also owes its current location to Bartle Frere," wrote Behram Sohrab H. Rustomji in his book 'Karachi during the British Era'.