Thanksgiving Lunch
The Senior School hosted a Thanksgiving Lunch on 3rd November, 2022 to support-staff of Senior School mess. The sumptuous lunch served to them by the Intermediate class was to recognize and reciprocate their tireless services. The event was organized by the Intermediate Class under the guidance of the Vice Principal/Headmaster and the Housemasters. The lunch was held in the Senior School Hall.
Present on the occasion, were the Senior School janitors, peons, gardeners, mess & dorm-bearers, sanitary staff, runners, drivers, security guards, and other on-call attendants. The worthy Principal brought rosy smiles to the worked-out faces of his guests by personally ensuring their comfort throughout the lunch. He had already directed the conveners to make apt arrangements for the attendees. The Gallians of Inter 2022-23, including all the Prefects, took pride in serving the support-staff with smiles and caring attitude; translating their worthy Principal’s sublime philosophy of humanism and goodwill into a sound reality.
It was a unique enactment of the maxim ‘Love Begets Love’– which resultantly, begets respect that further cements bond between the served and the service-givers; bringing homely harmony to the institutional environment. For the support-staff, it was a memorable occasion; full of cheers, respect, and care that usually remains an unfulfilled dream of the under-privileged staff in any part of the world. They were served with fine quality cuisines, drinks and desserts. The Principal thanked the junior staff for their devoted services and expressed his hope that they would continue with the same spirit next year. The support staff also thanked the Principal for encouraging them in such a nice way and recognizing their services.
Through this historic ceremony, the Principal also inculcated into the students, the worth of noble human and Islamic values that go hand in hand. Brushing aside sternly conventional administrative work-ways, the worthy Principal has always advocated and practised a more embracing and natural administrative panache and aura, where education must not only remain a prerogative of the privileged class, but it must expand its wings also to accommodate, train and refine all and sundry working in an educational institution. This is the true essence of education that the student community at Lawrence College will relish and utilize throughout their lives.
Founders' Day
162nd Founders’ Day was held in Jamali Stadium on Thursday, 29th September, 2022. The young Gallians put up an excellent show and received great appreciation from the spectators. The chief guest was the Governor of Punjab Muhammad Baligh Ur Rehman, a Pakistani politician who is serving as 39th Governor of Punjab, in office since 30th May, 2022. Previously he served as the Minister of State for Education and of Interior and Narcotics Control between 2013 to 2017.
A large number of guests, Old Gallians and parents attended the function. March past, PT display, gymnastics and archery were the main features of the Founders’ Day proceedings.
The Principal, Brig Mujahid Alam (Retd), presented the Annual Report of the College. He expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the Chief Guest and other guests for gracing the occasion. He said that the College administration is doing its best for grooming and training of the students.
The Chief Guest, while addressing the gathering, congratulated all the houses for their commendable performance, particularly Wightwick House for winning the Cock House shield and Walker House for being the runners up. He reminded the young Gallians that the motto of College is purposeful and we need to understand and follow the meaning. He also appreciated the efforts of the College management, faculty and Gallians for the significant development in all spheres of life.
The guests were served with refreshments at the end of the function.
Prior to this function, the Annual Performing Arts Show continued for three days in which a variety show, including songs, dances, English and Urdu plays, was staged. Students of the three schools put in a lot of efforts for making it a wonderful activity.
Defence Day of Pakistan was celebrated at Lawrence College with traditional spirit and enthusiasm
Students and faculty of the three schools assembled at the Yadgar-e-Shuhada in the morning of 6th of September. Principal LCGG was the chief guest. He, accompanied by the Head Boy of the College, on his own behalf, on behalf of the faculty, Gallians and old Gallians, laid wreath at the Yadgar-e-Shuhada. Naara-e-Pakistan was raised as an expression of love for our sweet homeland. After the wreath-laying, the function started with recitation from the Holy Quran by Sudais Adil from Class 1X and translation by Muhammad Ahmad from Class XI. The ceremony was conducted by Saad Khattak, Prefect Wright House.
The Principal, in his speech, paid tribute to the martyrs, whether they were army personnel, civilians or policemen, who laid their lives in defence of their motherland. He urged the gathering to observe one minute’s silence in the honour of Shuhada. He said, “We should never ever forget their sacrifices; their ultimate sacrifice that they gave for their motherland. This is the day of remembrance as well as to renew our pledge to our sacred motherland, Pakistan. We must remember that what we are today; our safety and protection is because of the sacrifices of these brave Shuhada. Great and living nations celebrate these days to renew their pledge and to have the introspection that they can identify what their weaknesses are; wherever we have gone wrong, we can correct ourselves. We pay tribute to all brave Gallians also who laid their lives, irrespective of their caste, region or religion. I urge the young Gallians to stop at Yadgar-e-Shuhada whenever you pass by that area and think of the great sacrifices of these Shuhada.
Discussing the situation that the people Of Pakistan are facing in the form of recent floods, he stressed upon the need of standing with those affected by the calamity. He appreciated contribution of Gallians towards donation for flood relief and mentioned that a sum of 1.4 million has been donated by Gallians. He made everyone realise that we need to do whatever we can in our capacity to help those who got devastated.
Du’a for the protection and prosperity of Pakistan was offered by Hafiz Atta-ur-Rehman, Khateeb Senior School Mosque. The ceremony concluded with national anthem.
Investiture Ceremony
In a simple but dignified ceremony, the Prefectorial Board 2022-23 was sworn in on 19th of August, 2022. Like past years, the announcement of the Prefectorial Board remained an exciting and most awaited activity of the Senior School. The prefects were selected through proper screening and evaluation of the candidates’ academic records, performance in co-curricular activities and most important, their conduct followed by personal interviews with the Principal.
The investiture ceremony was held in Hamid Hall. The ceremony started with recitation from the Holy Quran by Abdullah Kashif and translation by Saad Musa from Class VIII. The ceremony was conducted by Abdul Hadi from Class XI. After the recitation, the Vice Principal announced the Prefectorial Board. The oath of the Head Boy was administered by the Vice Principal. The Head Boy administered oath to the Deputy Head Boy and prefects.
The new appointment holders are as follows:
Head Boy:
Ahsan Hayat Khan (Wightwick House)
Deputy Head Boy:
Muhammad Shaheer (Wright House)
Prefect Day Boys:
Muhammad Ramish (Wightwick House)
College Sports Prefect:
Alam Khan (Walker House)
Prefect Academics:
Muhammad Ahmed (Peake House)
Prefects Peake House:
Mian Muzaffar Shah
Ali Imran
Prefects Walker House:
Raza Shah
Abdul Raheem Goraya
Prefects Wightwick House:
Muhammad Bahadur Ali Khan
Ahmad
Prefects Wright House:
Muhammad Roshan Khalid Tarar
Muhammad Saad
The Principal, at the very outset of his address, congratulated the new prefectorial board on assuming their new responsibilities. He advised the junior students to respect their seniors and asked the senior students to take care of the juniors as their younger brothers. He also advised them to remain humble in their life, avoid insolence and appreciate the strengths of others. He warned them to be aware of the negative trends on the social media and told them to use it very carefully. The principal also talked about the importance of displaying appropriate conduct while dealing with the women. He advised them to always behave in a very decent and courteous manner with women as our religion also teaches us so. He advised the students to have a very strong character and further asserted that character is all about integrity and honesty in everything we do. The Principal emphasized on following the role model of greatest personality of the universe, our Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in every field of life. He affirmed that we should be fair, polite and just in our dealings with our fellow human beings because that is the real message of our religion Islam. He educated the students on how our Holy Prophet (PBUH) spent his life and proved himself a role model not only for the Muslims but also for non-Muslims. Towards the conclusion of his speech he told them that they need to take care of their self-esteem and should respect others. On personal traits, the Principal highlighted that the students need to improve their communication skills, particularly their proficiency in spoken English. He made it clear that the stress upon learning English is not because of any love for the language but because it is need of the hour.
In the end, the Principal congratulated the Prefectorial Board on their new assignments and appreciated the organizers for holding the function in an elegant manner.
Independence Day
Independence Day is celebrated every year at Lawrence College with great verve and enthusiasm. This year too, all the students were eager to participate in the Independence Day celebrations.
The Chief Guest of the Independence Day celebrations was Principal Lawrence College Brig Mujahid Alam (Retd). The celebrations started with combined assembly of three schools in the Senior School lawn. National flag was hoisted, na’ra-e-Pakistan was raised and dua was offered for the progress and prosperity. On the occasion, the Principal said, “There is no doubt that it is the day of joy and celebrations because the gift of the freedom of liberty is the most precious gift that a nation or people can have. We should be eternally grateful to the founding fathers of the Pakistan Movement, starting from Muhammad Ali Jinnah and all his companions, to the millions of common people who gave the ultimate sacrifice with their life and with their blood, so that today we are living in a free country and this is what we must acknowledge without any hesitation. He further said that Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a man of unimpeachable integrity and character. Even his political rivals acknowledged him for his honesty. He also said that it is a day of reflection and introspection.
After the flag hoisting in the lawn, the students and staff of Senior School moved to Hamid Hall where the main function was held. The function started with recitation from the Holy Quran by Muhammad Hamza Umar from Class XI and translation by Siddique from Class XI. Speeches by Rehan Malik from Class VIII and Muhammad Maaz Akhter from Class XI highlighted the sacrifices and struggle of our forefathers in creation of Pakistan. A milli naghma was wonderfully sung by Muhammad Anas Bilal from Class XI and Atif Zardari from O-II. Ahsan Hayat from Class XII conducted the function efficiently. A video explaining the meanings of the National Anthem of Pakistan was shown. A documentary showing the sacrifices of Indian Muslims was also shown. Mr Ahmedyar, Lecturer Pakistan Studies Department, talked about the positive side of Pakistan.
The chief guest highlighted the great contribution of Muslim leaders in creation of a separate homeland for Muslims. He said that we need to root out prejudices, extremism and sectarianism, so that we can build an inclusive, tolerant and moderate society. In the end, he commended all the participants for their confidence and delivery.
Junior and Prep Shools held their functions in the respective schools so that maximum number of students from each school could be a part of these celebrations.
Pakistan Day
Lawrence College observed Pakistan Day with traditional zeal and zest. The day started with combined assembly of the three schools in the Senior School lawn. Naa’ra e Pakistan was raised and dua was offered for protection and prosperity of Pakistan. Young Gallians participated in School-wise function which was followed by combined assembly endowed with great spirit of patriotism.
Senior School:
The Senior School held the main function in Hamid Hall. It started with National Anthem. It was followed by recitation from the Holy Quran by Abdullah Kashif and translation by Saad Musa from Class VIII. Abdullah Syed from Class VIII, Ajlan Abbas from Class IX and Atif Nazeer from Class O-II talked about different aspects of Pakistan Movement, in general and Pakistan Resolution, in particular. A milli naghma was presented by Waqar Ali from Class Vlll. A video was shown by Pakistan Studies Department which highlighted the events that contributed to introduction of Pakistan Resolution and later creation of Pakistan. Syed Basharat Hussain, Head of Pakistan Studies Department, discussed the contribution of great leaders like Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Allama Iqbal and Quaid-e-Azam.
Principal, Brigadier Mujahid Alam (Retd), highly appreciated the staff and students for celebrating Pakistan Day in such a dignified manner. He said that we needed to have introspection and self-examination to better equip ourselves to meet the challenges we encounter. Talking of the leaders of the Pakistan Movement, he said that a number of prominent leaders present on the occasion of the introduction of Pakistan Resolution were Bengalis. They were true and loyal Pakistanis, but unfortunately we couldn’t hold them together with us (the West Pakistan). He further said that we needed to take practical steps to make Pakistan strong and no one else could do that for us.
Kashmir Solidarity Day
Lawrence College celebrated Kashmir Solidarity Day on 5th of February, 2022. On this day, we intend to convey a strong message to the world community that every passing second is adding to the sufferings of Kashmiris and at the same time it is bringing them close to their destination of independence and right of self-determination.
The day started with recitation from the Holy Quran and its translation by Hafiz Muhammad Hassan, Saadullah and Alam Khan from Class XI. Muhammad Shaheer and M. Qadeer Khan Class XI, Sameer Ali of Class O-III and Ayyan Qamar from Class X threw light on Kashmir issue and renewed the pledge, on behalf of the students, that they would stand by their Kashmiri brethren. Mr. Ahmadyar from Pakistan Studies Department and Mr. Basharat Hussain (HoD Pakistan Studies) dilated upon the historical background of the Kashmir issue and talked about the sufferings Kashmiri nation is going through.
The function concluded with the pledge that we must acknowledge and honour all the Kashmiris in the Indian-held Kashmir; the men, the women, the old and the children who continue to face the brutality and troubles so bravely. It is something that we and entire world should acknowledge and should stand for their genuine rights.