Don Bosco Catholic School Explained

Don Bosco Catholic School
Established:2002
Type:Primary school
Religion:Roman Catholic Church
Founder:Father Leonard Steger MHM
Head Label:Principal
Head:Hanook Masih[1]
Chair Label:Administration
Chair:Catholic Board of Education
County:North West Frontier Province
Country:Pakistan
Staff:6
Enrollment:120
Gender:boys and girls
Lower Age:5
Upper Age:11
Free Label 1:Affiliations
Free 1:Roman Catholic Diocese of Islamabad-Rawalpindi

The Don Bosco Catholic School (also called St. John Bosco School)[1] is a primary school under the Roman Catholic Diocese of Islamabad-Rawalpindi in Bannu in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan, 250 kilometers southwest of Islamabad.[2]

Father Leonard Steger, an Italian Mill Hill missionary, built the school in 2002 in an area of around 800 Christian families. More than 120 boys and girls, Christians and Muslims, study in the three-story school building. The teaching staff comprises four Christians and two Muslims.[3]

On September 15, 2007, an explosion damaged the school. No injuries were reported.[4]

In 2008 the school was one of 150 schools attacked by Islamic fundamentalists in Pakistan.[5]

In 2009, Archbishop Lawrence Saldanha of Lahore wrote to the President and Prime Minister of Pakistan and expressed concern over the allowing of Islamic law to be implemented in the area.[6]

In 2014, the school has provided refuge to around 39 Christian families who were displaced by unrest in other areas.[1]

Notes and References

  1. https://www.dawn.com/news/1123974 Dawn August 8, 2014
  2. Web site: Presbyterian News Service 24 February 2009.
  3. Web site: UCANews September 19, 2007 .
  4. http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/48d5cbf84d.html United States Department of State, 2008 Report on International Religious Freedom - Pakistan, 19 September 2008
  5. Web site: Catholic girls' school destroyed .
  6. http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Archbishop-of-Lahore:-Sharia-in-the-Swat-Valley-is-contrary-to-Pakistan's-founding-principles-15040.html AsiaNews.it April 21, 2009