Cadet College Petaro - History

History

The college was founded in August 1957 at Mirpurkhas, Sindh as a residential institution. It was established under the name of Government Cadet College Mirpurkhas. The college came into being due to the efforts of Mr. A.M. Nizamani, the then Director of Education of Hyderabad Region, and sanctioned by Mr. Muhammad Ayub Khuhro, Defence Minister of Pakistan.

The first batch of teachers joined the college on 5 August 1957 at Mirpurkhas while the college building was still under preparation. These five teachers were Mr. Abdullah Khadim Hussain, Mr. Feroz Yusuf Khan, Mr. Aziz Ahmed Farooqui, Mr. Hasan Masud Zuberi, and Mr. Syed Zahoorul Hasan. While the government had advertised for the position of Principal of the college, Mr. Mohammed Hasnain was appointed as the In Charge (Acting) Principal on August 25, 1957 for the initial few months. He was soon succeeded by Col.(retd) J.H.H. Coombes on March 20, 1958.

The first batch of 30 students joined the college on 27 August 1957 in class VIII.

In 1958, a new site was sought in order to build a permanent campus for the college. A site was chosen at Petaro, a few miles up the river from Jamshoro. The construction of a purpose built campus began almost immediately. Mr. Habib-ur-Rehman, Minister of Education, laid the foundation stone of the college on 16 January 1959. The initial cost of construction of the buildings of the college sanctioned by the government of West Pakistan was Rs. 2,700,000. The college finally moved to its new premises at Petaro in August 1959. At the time of the move, the River Indus was in flood, and Petaro was also submerged under its waters. The building in Mirpurkhas that originally housed Cadet College Petaro was given over to the Government College Mirpurkhas.

The first principal of the college was Col.(retd) J.H.H. Coombes who retired from the college in 1965. He was followed by Cdr.(retd) Firoz Shah, who remained in charge until 1972. The previous principal was Cdre. M. Abid Saleem (2000–2007).The present principal is Cdre. Muhammad Afzal

The college is a residential institution for over 900 full-time students at present, providing education from Class 8 to Class 12 (Intermediate). At the time it was first constructed, it was designed to accommodate only 360 students in four houses (or hostels). The capacity was expanded to 570 with the construction of two more houses in the late 1960s.

The year 2007 marked the fiftieth anniversary of the college. Gen. Pervez Musharraf, President of Pakistan was the chief guest at the Golden Jubilee celebrations on 28 February 2007. On this occasion, President Musharraf announced the formation of a university in the vicinity of the college that will be sponsored by the Metupak Foundation.

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