Army Burn Hall College

Army Burn Hall College
File:Burnhall2.jpg
"Quo Non Ascendam"
Established	1943
Principal	Brigadier Raheel Ashraf
Location	Abbottabad,N.W.F.P, Pakistan
Homepage	burnhall.edu.pk

The Army Burn Hall College (ABHC) is a situated in Mandian region of Abbottabad city. It is divided into two separate colleges for boys and for girls. The girls branch is located on the Mall Road near the city center, and the boys' branch is in near Mandian. Originally these were Junior Burn Hall and Senior Burn Hall Schools respectively. The junior school starts from Prep class goes up to the Masters level for girls, and the boys go to the senior school after finishing their sixth grade. The name of the school and college is recognized all over Pakistan for excellent education and physical training, providing both day-schooling and boarding system for the students.

History

Burn Hall traces its History back to 1943 when a team of missionaries from Mill Hill, London, established the school in Sri Nagar. It was named after an English Manor House, which had a hall with a stream (Burn)running through it hence the name 'Burn Hall'.The school was administered by the Fathers in English public school tradition.

After Pakistan and India gained their Independence from the British Empire in 1947, some times in 1948 a few Fathers moved to Abbottabad with a handful of students and set up the school in a small hotel building, the Abbot Hotel. The school was among the best in the country and soon more buildings were added to accomodate the increasing number of students. The school was under the control of the Dicosesan Board of Education, Rawalpindi.

In 1956, a new school was constructed a few miles outside the town, on the GT( Grand Trunk) road,to provide more room for the seniors and became known as senior Burn Hall.The new school was designed to allow for adequate sports facilities and included playgrounds for all games, including swimming pool.

Ideally located at 4300 feet above sea level in natural surroundings, coupled with the zeal and fervour with which the Fathers and school staff administered the school, it became one of the leading schools of the country. It excelled in academic and literary activities and encouraged competiton in sports by having House games between St Michaels and (St Andrews) later to be named St Gabriels. The high standard achieved were in keeping with the school motto 'Quo non Ascendum' latin for 'To what heights Can I not rise'.

(The above has been taken from the Burn Hall Alumni Association which comprises of Burn Hall students from past years. Association address; Grey House, 30 Clifton, Karachi, Pakistan.)

The only missionary left in Srinagar moved Burn Hall School to Gupkar Road in Srinagar, Kashmir in 1956. The first principal of the school was Father Boerkamp.

Additional comments;

The Fathers who came to set up the School in Abbottabad realised that if Pakistan as a nation was to do well then it needed men of high calibre, intelligent, strong willed, determined, nationalistic and with the highest level of integrity. The British Empire was built on men who came from the English Public schools and therefore the Fathers replicated that system. They were successful as Boys from Burn Hall achieved distinction in the civil service, Armed Forces and Business and other fields. Ex-Burn Hall boys who revisited Burn Hall always got special reception and sat with the Fathers at the Dinning Table for Lunch and they always enjoyed listening to the achievement's of the old boys.

The Fathers promoted sports as a means of making a boys character believe characters are made on the sports grounds. St Michaels was represented by a black shield with gold boarder, crossed lance and sword. St Gabriels, were represented by a Lion Holding a fiery torch.

There were 7 games exercised; Cricket, Hockey, Football,Basketball, Tennis,Swimming, and athletics.

In 1966/67 There were foreign families who had come to assist in building the Tarbella Dam. The daughters of one of the families, 2 sisters joined Burn Hall and were the first girls to enroll in Senior Burn Hall. Foreign students came from Morocco, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Britain.

List of Principals Of Burn Hall.

1948 Rev Father Thysen To Rev Father G.Shanks 1956 Rev Father Burns

        Rev Father F.Scanlon

SENIOR BURN HALL SCHOOL

1956-64 Rev Father F.Scanlon 1964-65 Rev Father E.Foord 1965-71 Rev Father F.Scanlon 1971-72 Rev Father N.Turner 1972-73 Rev Father j.van Schagen 1973-74 Rev Father M.Conroy 1974-76 Rev Father J.Klaver

ARMY BURN HALL COLLEGE

Dec 1976-83 Brig Bashir Ahmad Malik 1983-87 Brig Abdul Sattar 1987 Brig Zahur Ahmad

Academics

The college shows outstanding results in O Levels, Matriculation, and F.Sc Intermediate examinations. The total strength of Burn Hall is over 3,000 students and 200 faculty members. Physical training is usually provided by retired/serving trainers from the Pakistan Military.

The students of Burn Hall are known as 'Hallians' and have risen to prominence both in Pakistan and overseas.

The motto of the College is "Quo Non Ascendum" i.e. "To What Heights Can I Not Rise"

Every year a magazine is launched by the college, the magazine for girl section is called "HALLIAN" and that of boy section is called "HALLMARK". Last year,a student of class 1st Year Miss Javeria Qazi, launched her own official-student-run-magazine, with the consent of the principal, Brig. Noor Sultan Lali, known as "HalliZine", which has been appreciated by all faculty members. The url of the magazine is http://hallizine.blogspot.com

Infrastructure

Senior Burn Hall is divided into three houses. Day scholars are enrolled in STS House and boarders are enrolled in to SIS and SAS houses. The houses are named after the Muslim heroes of Indian subcontinent.

• Shah Ismail Shaheed House. colour is Red
• Syed Ahmad Shaheed House. colour is Blue
• Sultan Tipu Shaheed House. colour is Green

Alumni

Students from Burn Hall have reached high levels in Politics, Armed Forces and Civil Services. Notable among these ex Burn Hall students are;

Prof Dr Akbar S.Ahmed-1954-1959, Cambridge University, PCS,Author, Film Producer of Movie' Jinnah'.

• Wasim Sajjad-1948-59,Did Law from Cambridge University, England,Member Pakistan Senate
• Gohar Ayub-Son of Late President Field Marshall Ayub Khan, Trained Sandhurst as cadet, Member National Assembly.

Maj Gen Mehmood Ali Durrani -1959, Armed Forces. Nisar Ali Khan-1968, Member National Assembly, Political Party PML-N Maj Richard Francis-1963-67, Armed Forces.

• Omar Ayub Khan
• Yousaf Ayub
• Lt.Gen (R) Munir Hafeez
• Maj Gen (R) Ali Hamid
• Brigadier (R) Muhammad Marghub Awan
• Syed Shayan Hussain Rizvi

See also=

ARSLAN GHUMMAN