Karachi Grammar School

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The Karachi Grammar School (KGS) is a co-educational private school in Karachi, Pakistan and one of the country's top educational institutions. It was established in 1847 by the Reverend H. Brereton, the first Chaplain of Karachi as a school for "English and Anglo-Indian children" [2]. The school remained small initially, with about 300 students in 1940. Over the past fifteen years, however, the school has expanded rapidly and now occupies three campuses across Karachi with a total student population in the thousands.

Contents 1 Curriculum 2 Extracurricular activities 3 The House System 4 Campuses 5 Social Role 6 External links

[edit] Curriculum

Like many private schools in Pakistan, KGS is geared, especially at the secondary level, towards preparing students for University of Cambridge International Examinations GCE Ordinary Level, Advanced Subsidiary Level, and Advanced Level examinations.

Subjects taught at KGS include world history, studio art, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, computer studies, Pakistani history and geography, Urdu, Islamic studies, english literature and language, economics, accounting, business management, environmental management, and sociology.

[edit] Extracurricular activities

Unlike many private schools in Pakistan, KGS offers its students a great number of opportunities to participate in extracurricular activities. These include, but are not limited to, drama , a large number of sports (including cricket, football, field hockey, netball, volleyball and athletics), debating (whose participants are the apples of the school's eyes) , writing for "The Grammarian" (the yearbook), and a number of student societies. Another annual publication associated with the school, is the magazine titled the "Pulse". Initially, two editions of the "Pulse" used to be printed annually but now only one edition is published. Rowing has caught the interest of many students and there are some exceptionally good oarsmen/women amongst them.

[edit] The House System

The four school houses are Frere (for Henry Bartle Frere), Napier (for Charles James Napier), Streeton (also for an official of the British Raj) and Papworth (for a former principal). The house colours are red, blue, green, and cornflower blue, respectively. At this time, 16th Mar 2007, the housemasters and housemistress are as follow: -Napier:Sir Wasif Ghani who is also a Maths teacher -Papworth: Mrs. Samina Qasim who is also a Language/Literature teacher. -Frere: Ms. Sadia Ashraf who is also a Geography teacher.

[edit] Campuses

The original campus, located at 94 Depot Lines in the Saddar area, now houses only classes seven to nine and is known as the Middle School. In 1991, the Kindergarten and Junior Section was opened on Khayaban-e-Saadi in the Boating Basin area of Clifton for nursery, kindergarten, and classes 1 to 6. The latest addition to the school, the College Section in 1999, is also located on Khayaban-e-Saadi a few hundred meters from the Kindergarten and Junior Section, and contains the 'O' and 'A' Level students. This last campus was provided by Asif Zardari, who was also a Grammarian (student of Karachi Grammar School) in his day.

[edit] Social Role

While the fees at KGS are modest compared to other private schools in Karachi, the cost does mean that attending the school is not a real option for most people. As a result, the school is attended by the children of some of the wealthiest and most influential families in the city. Amongst many, attendance at the school has consequently acquired a meaning that stretches beyond a measure of one's intellect, and is in fact used as a measure of social status. Indeed it is a measure of ones social satus, but the school neither discriminates nor adopts a bias view for its selection. Only the wisest candidates are chosen for enrollment, esecially in the advanced level, where only a select variety of individuals with high intellectual standings are chosen to continue their education, everyone else ave no choice but to leave.

For some, the school is a modern institution with a tradition of academic excellence, and its students are individuals with great strength of character. Amongst other members of society, however, the school is seen as disconnected from the rest of the city, and even the country. But in the quest t provide that promising excellence, many misguided individuals use the schools name to belittle their peers. Such individuals if caught in the process are subject to serious consequences by the administration. Like any elite society, the emerging generation are usually a challenge for the staff of private schools, this schoolbeing no different. Thus t measures taken to revent the glorious heritage of the school from crumbling in the hands of a few un controlled children, rules have been laid. Some consider these to jeopardise their right of expression, but they forget that in order to enter such a pretigious institution, they must either abide by the rules, or take their leave immediately.

[edit] External links

• The Official Karachi Grammar School website (requires a password)
• The Karachi Grammar School website
• The Old Grammarians' Society (the KGS alumni association)
• A website by students of the class of 1997
• A website by a student of the class of 1998
• A website by students of the class of 1999
• Photos of the original campus at Mary Ann Sullivan's Digital Imaging Project

Schools in Karachi
Saint Patrick's High School • Karachi Grammar School • Bai Virbaiji Soparivala Parsi High School • Ayesha Bawani Academy • Sindh Madrasa-tul-Islam • Habib Public School • CAS School • St. Joseph's Convent School • Saint Paul's English High School • Saint Paul's Urdu High School • Happy Home School