by Sumon Corraya

Run by local nuns, St Mary's Girls' High School is now in its 75th year. Dhaka archbishop led the celebrations, which brought together some 2,000 former students and their families. For the prelate, the school is a “light on earth,” each student, “a light on humankind". About 100,000 students attend Catholic schools in Bangladesh, mostly non-Christians.

Dhaka (AsiaNews) – St Mary's Girls' High School is a "light on earth" and its students are a "light on humankind, each a beacon,” said Mgr Patrick D'Rozario, archbishop of Dhaka, as he led celebrations marking the 75th year of the school, which is currently run by the Associates of Mary Queen of Apostles (SMRA), an order founded in the country in 1933.

The celebration, which was held a few days ago, drew some 2,000 former students and their families to St Mary's. Founded on 8 January 1941, the school is located in Gazipur, a region not far from the capital Dhaka. Initially, seven Holy Cross nuns ran it, who later passed the baton to the Associates of Mary Queen of Apostles.

"We are proud to have been pupils of this school because the nuns taught us to be better women and mothers,” said Rupai Rozario, a former student.

Thanks to the education she received, she was able “to send my three children to the best schools in the country and now all have a good life,” she told AsiaNews.

The 65-year-old social worker added that she was happy to be back on campus after so many years, and meet so many friends. Together they talked about the old days and thanked their teachers.

"We have educated thousands of mothers,” Sr Mary Christina, head of St Mary's Girls' High School, told AsiaNews. “We give our girls a real education to be the best mothers in the future."

The nun also said that the school provides more than an academic education; it also offers moral and spiritual lessons. So far, some 90 Muslim students have been enrolled.

In total, 317 students later became nuns, serving in various domains, including other Catholic educational institutions in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh’s Catholic Church runs a university, eight colleges and 580 primary and high schools, providing education to about 100,000 students each year (most of them non-Christians).

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• catholic
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• mary's
• girls'
• high
• school
• anniversary