Model School Conversion – Government Boys & Girls Schools, P&T Colony, Saddar Town, Karachi (2007–2012)
P&T Colony, Saddar Town, Karachi — 2007–2012
Model School Conversion — Government Boys & Girls Schools, P&T Colony, Saddar Town, Karachi (2007–2012)
Between 2007 and 2012, Naffees & Sons was the government-appointed contractor for the Conversion of Selected Existing Schools into Model Schools at the Government Boys/Girls Secondary, Higher Secondary, and Primary Schools at P&T Colony, Saddar Town, Karachi. This was a flagship Annual Development Programme (ADP) initiative of the City District Government Karachi — a formal government programme that selected existing school campuses across the city for elevation to model school standard.
The total programme value, recorded in the government's own Financial Review document, was Rs.9.639 million — nearly Rs.1 crore — across two tenders, against a PC-I (Planning Commission) approved budget of Rs.10.087 million. Equivalent to roughly Rs.3.85 crore at 2025 construction costs.
The documentation on this project is among the most complete in the Naffees & Sons portfolio: official architectural drawings prepared by Education Works, Saddar Town (the pre-renovation campus survey), the government Financial Review showing total sanctioned value and PC-I budget, four government work orders, a scope certification letter signed by the Head Mistress of the campus, and a formal Handing Over / Taking Over Certificate with attached site photographs. Every phase is documented. Every signature is on record.
The Programme: What "Model School Conversion" Required
The Conversion of Selected Existing Schools into Model Schools was a targeted ADP initiative designed to raise a select group of government schools across Karachi from their existing condition to a defined higher standard — the "model school" specification. Being placed on this list was not automatic. It reflected a government assessment that a particular campus had the potential to serve as a reference-standard institution for its area, and that the investment in bringing it up to specification was warranted.
The P&T Colony campus — serving the Government Boys and Girls Secondary, Higher Secondary, and Primary Schools in Saddar Town — was selected. It is a multi-level campus on Gizri Road in the Saddar District South area of Karachi, serving hundreds of students across multiple year groups and both genders. The scale of the campus — documented in the architectural drawings prepared by Education Works, Saddar Town — gives a precise picture of what Naffees & Sons was working with.
The Campus: Architectural Drawings (Pre-Renovation Baseline)
Before any work began, the Education Works Department, Saddar Town, prepared formal architectural drawings of the existing campus — the ground floor and first floor plans of the Government Girls/Boys Primary/Secondary School, P&T Colony, Saddar Town, Karachi. These drawings are part of the project record. They show exactly what was there before the conversion, and they define the scale of what had to be transformed.
Education Works, Saddar Town Karachi — Ground Floor Plan (overview): Existing Government Girls/Boys Primary/Secondary School, P&T Colony, Saddar Town. Shows the full site with classrooms, central play area with sports field, Computer Room, Biology Room, Principal's Room, toilet blocks, kitchen, and D.H. Bridge access.
A more detailed drawing of the same ground floor shows the campus broken into five distinct blocks with precise room-by-room dimensions:
Education Works, Saddar Town Karachi — Detailed Ground Floor Plan: Five-block campus layout, Government Girls/Boys Primary/Secondary School, P&T Colony. Overall footprint approximately 153'×120'. Block 1 (142' wing): Watch Room (18'×24'), three classrooms (24'-3"×18' each), 6'-3" verandah. Block 2: two classrooms (25'×20'), 6' verandah. Block 3 (central, 147' wide): Office (25'×20'), H.M. Room (25'×20'), Chemistry Lab (25'×20'), Library (25'×20'), 4' verandah. Block 4: Biology Lab (25'-3"×20'). Block 5 (right wing): three classrooms (20'×18'), ESS Tank. Physics Lab (25'-3"×20') in right wing. D.H. Bridge access point marked.
Education Works, Saddar Town Karachi — First Floor Plan: Existing Government Girls/Boys Primary/Secondary School, P&T Colony. Shows seven classrooms (25'×20' and 25'×3"×20'), 8' wide verandah, Staff Room, and lower wing with two additional classrooms (29'×3"×18'×3" and 20'×18'), Biology Lab, Chemistry Lab, Physics Lab, and 6'-7" wide lower verandah.
Reading these drawings: The campus was a five-block complex with an overall footprint of approximately 153'×120', spread across a ground floor and first floor. Room-by-room, the drawings confirm: Chemistry Lab (25'×20'), Biology Lab (25'-3"×20'), Physics Lab (25'-3"×20'), Library (25'×20'), Office (25'×20'), Head Master's Room (25'×20'), Watch Room, multiple classrooms across both floors, toilet blocks, an ESS (emergency supply) tank, a central play area with a marked sports field, and verandah circulation on every wing. This is not a small government school. It is a multi-block institutional campus serving Primary, Secondary, and Higher Secondary students across both genders. Converting it — every laboratory, every classroom, every external surface, all plumbing and drainage — to model school standard was a campus-wide operation.
The Work Orders: Four Phases Across Five Years
Work Order 1 — 2007–08 | Rs.18,49,711/-
The first work order was issued in 2007–08 by the District Officer Education Works-I (W&S) Department, City District Government Karachi, for Phase 3 of the scheme at P&T Colony. Civil works and associated items were executed at rates approved by the District Officer, Works & Services Department.
Sanctioned value: Rs.18,49,711/-
Work Order 2007–08 — Conversion of Schools into Model School, P&T Colony, Phase 3. Issued by D.O. Education Works-I (W&S) Deptt., CDG Karachi to M/S. Nafees & Sons. Sanctioned value: Rs.18,49,711/-.
Work Order 2 — 2008–09 (Boys/Girls Secondary & Primary) | Rs.20,40,793/-
The second work order, issued in April 2009, covered external development, water supply, and sewerage/stormwater works for the combined Boys/Girls Secondary and Primary School component under ADP Scheme 1540. The scope was formally divided across:
- Part A: Civil Works at 30.10% above schedule rates
- Part B: Water Supply & Sewerage/Stormwater Works at 19.94% above schedule rates
Both scheduled and non-schedule items were included. Rates were approved by the Chief Engineer, Works & Services Department, CDG Karachi.
Sanctioned value: Rs.20,40,793/-
Work Order 2008–09 — External Development, Water Supply & Sewerage/Stormwater, ADP Scheme 1540, Boys/Girls Secondary/Primary School. Issued by D.O. Education Works-I (W&S) Deptt., CDG Karachi to M/S. Nafees & Sons. Total Rs.20,40,793/-. Reference: CE/W&S/CDGK/2008-09/13891, dated 18-04-2009.
Work Order 3 — 2008–09 (Girls Higher Secondary School)
A separate work order was also issued in the same 2008–09 period for the Girls Higher Secondary School component of the same campus — confirming that the model school conversion at P&T Colony was administered as separate contractual packages for the different school units sharing the campus. This reflects the multi-institution nature of the campus: Boys Secondary, Girls Secondary, Primary, and Higher Secondary schools each had their own administrative identity within the same physical compound.
Work Order 2008–09 — External Development, Girls Higher Secondary School component, P&T Colony, Saddar Town. Issued by D.O. Education Works-I (W&S) Deptt., CDG Karachi to M/S. Nafees & Sons. Rate: 30.10% above (Civil), same programme reference.
Work Order 4 — 2011–12 | Remaining Work (Final Phase)
The fourth and final work order was issued in June 2012 by the Office of the Executive Engineer Education Works Division-I, Works & Services Department — indicating that by this phase the project had been elevated to Executive Engineer level oversight, reflecting its scale and significance.
This phase was titled "Remaining Work" — the comprehensive completion of all outstanding items required to bring the campus to final model school specification. The scope was structured across three parts (A, B, and C) at varying rate schedules, reflecting the different categories of remaining work.
Work Order 2011–12 (Remaining Work) — Conversion of Schools into Model School, P&T Colony, Saddar Town. Issued by Executive Engineer Education Works Division-I, W&S Deptt., CDG Karachi to M/S. Nafees & Sons. Three-part scope (A, B, C) for final completion. Rates approved under General Circular 17. Reference: DGT/S/KMC/2011/3208, dated 11-06-2012.
Combined Value Across All Phases
| Work Order | Year | Scope | Sanctioned Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phase 3 (civil works) | 2007–08 | Civil works, P&T Colony | Rs.18,49,711/- |
| ADP 1540 (Boys/Girls) | 2008–09 | External development, W/S & sewerage | Rs.20,40,793/- |
| Girls Higher Secondary | 2008–09 | External development component | (additional) |
| Remaining Work | 2011–12 | Final completion, model school standard | ~Rs.41–42 lakh |
| Total across all phases | 2007–2012 | Full programme, P&T Colony campus | Rs.9.639 million (Rs.96.4 lakh) |
(Total confirmed by government Financial Review document — see below.)
The Financial Review: The Government's Own Record of Total Value
Beyond the individual work orders, the project has a Financial Review document prepared by the Works & Services Department, CDG Karachi — the government's own summary of the total financial picture for the Govt. Boys/Girls Secondary/Primary School Model School conversion at P&T Colony. This is the definitive record of what the programme cost.
Financial Review — Govt. Boys/Girls Secondary/Primary School, P&T Colony, Saddar, Karachi (Model School). Prepared by Education Works Saddar Town, W&S Deptt., CDGK. Tender-I: Rs.7.791 million. Tender-II (Proposed): Rs.1.850 million. Total: Rs.9.639 million. PC-I Cost (civil work i/c 15%): Rs.10.087 million. Balance: Rs.0.446 million. Signed by Sub Engineer, Deputy City Officer, and District Officer, Education Works, (W&S) Deptt. CDGK.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Tender-I | Rs.7.791 million (Rs.77.9 lakh) |
| Tender-II (Proposed) | Rs.1.850 million (Rs.18.5 lakh) |
| Total Programme Value | Rs.9.639 million (Rs.96.4 lakh) |
| PC-I Approved Budget | Rs.10.087 million (Rs.1.0087 crore) |
| Unspent Balance | Rs.0.446 million (Rs.4.46 lakh) |
2025 purchasing power equivalent: Pakistan's CPI increased by approximately 4× between 2009–10 (the midpoint of this programme) and 2025. Applying that multiplier, the total programme value of Rs.9.639 million is equivalent to roughly Rs.3.85 crore at 2025 construction costs.
The PC-I sanction — the government's own formal planning document for this project — approved over Rs.1 crore. The actual spend came in at Rs.9.639 million against that sanction, with Rs.0.446 million balance. This is a project that was delivered within budget, against a formally approved government planning allocation at the crore level.
What Was Built: The Head Mistress's Scope Certification
The most specific documentation of exactly what Naffees & Sons delivered is the "To Whom It May Concern" certification letter signed by the Head Mistress of the campus — M/S. Qutsha Rasheed, DAEO, Campus GBSS P&T Colony, Gizri Road, Karachi. This letter itemises the completed works with precision.
"To Whom It May Concern" — Certification by M/S. Qutsha Rasheed, Head Mistress DAEO, Campus GBSS P&T Colony, Gizri Road, Karachi. Certifies that M/s. Nafees & Sons, Govt. Contractor deputed by Education Works Department, completed all works at Govt. Boys/Girls Secondary School (Selected Model School), P&T Colony, Karachi.
The letter certifies the following completed works:
1. RCC Structure Main Gate with Underground Tank The main gate of the campus was rebuilt as a reinforced concrete structure — not a simple repair of an existing gate but a new RCC-framed entrance with an underground water storage tank integrated into the structure. The main gate is the first impression every student, teacher, and visitor has of the school. Building it in RCC with proper structural design is the difference between a gate that lasts and one that deteriorates in five years.
2. Physics, Chemistry, and Biology Laboratory Tables — Verona Marble Top with National Tiles The three science laboratories — Physics, Chemistry, and Biology — received new RCC practical tables finished with Verona marble worktops and National tile surfacing. These are the benches where students conduct experiments. The specification matters: Verona marble is hard, chemically resistant, and cleanable — appropriate for laboratory benches that will be exposed to acids, solvents, heat, and the full range of activities in a secondary science curriculum. National tiles complete the surface to a durable, hygienic finish. These are not cosmetic upgrades. They are working surfaces specified to function correctly.
3. Iron Steel Main Gate An iron steel main gate was installed — secure, structural, and appropriate for a government campus that needs to control access and present a defined institutional perimeter.
4. National Tiles Flooring — Courtyard and Outer Compound Wall Area The courtyard — the primary outdoor space of the campus that students use every day for movement, recreation, and assembly — was floored in National tiles throughout, including the outer side of the compound wall. Given the architectural drawings show a substantial central play area with a sports field, this was a significant flooring operation. Tiles in a school courtyard take extreme punishment: thousands of footsteps daily, monsoon water, sun exposure, furniture movement, sports activities. The correct specification here is not decorative — it is functional durability.
5. G.I. Choukat and Plywood Shutters in Laboratories Galvanised iron (G.I.) choukat — the door and window frames — were installed throughout the laboratories, fitted with plywood shutters. G.I. frames are the correct specification for institutional laboratory environments: they do not rot, they do not warp under humidity, and they do not require the maintenance that timber frames demand in Karachi's climate. The laboratories were specified correctly, not cheaply.
6. Verona Marble on Stair Steps The stairs of the campus received Verona marble step finishes — the same material specified for the laboratory worktops. Marble on stairs in a high-traffic school environment is a durability decision, not a luxury one: it resists wear, cleans easily, and holds its finish under decades of use. A school with Verona marble stairs is a school where the finish will still be presentable in 20 years.
7. Graffito on Laboratory Walls and Compound Wall Graffito (textured plaster finish) was applied to the laboratory walls and compound wall. Graffito is a hardwearing, textured exterior and interior finish that resists scratching, marking, and weathering better than standard painted plaster. On a school compound wall that is constantly exposed and on laboratory walls that take daily contact from students, this is the appropriate finish specification.
The Handing Over: Certificate and Site Photographs
On completion, the formal Handing Over / Taking Over Certificate was signed by both parties: the Assistant Engineer, Education Works Saddar Town (the government supervisor handing over the certified work) and M/S. Qamra Rasheed, Head Mistress, Campus GBSS P&T Colony (the institution taking over the delivered campus).
The certificate states that the work was completed "satisfactorily in all respects" and received "in Good Condition" — the government's formal certification of delivery.
Six site photographs are attached to the certificate, documenting the delivered condition of the campus:
Handing Over / Taking Over Certificate — Conversion of Selected Existing Schools into Model School, Government Boys/Girls Secondary/Primary School, P&T Colony, Saddar Town, Karachi (Remaining Work). Completed satisfactorily in all respects by M/S. Naffees & Sons. Taken over from Assistant Engineer, Education Works Sub-Division, Saddar District South, Karachi, in Good Condition. Signed by: Assistant Engineer, Education Works Saddar Town (Handing Over); and M/S. Qamra Rasheed, Head Mistress, Campus GBSS P&T Colony (Taking Over). Six site photographs attached.
The photographs show:
- School building exterior — the completed multi-storey compound with its renovated facade, clean and in finished condition
- Campus courtyard — the National-tiled external circulation and play area, complete
- Interior classrooms — furnished, finished rooms ready for immediate use
- Interior facilities — completed internal spaces with fitted furniture and equipment
The before condition is documented in the architectural drawings. The after condition is documented in the site photographs. Both are in this record.
Challenges — and How We Overcame Them
A government ADP contract spanning five years, four work orders, and a multi-institution campus does not run without obstacles. These are the ones this project presented — and how they were managed.
Four Schools, Four Administrations, One Set of Construction Works
The P&T Colony campus is not a single institution. It houses Boys Secondary, Girls Secondary, Girls Higher Secondary, and Primary schools — four separate administrative identities, four head teachers, four timetables. A construction zone that suited one school's schedule conflicted with another's exam period. A blocked circulation route that Boys Secondary could accommodate became an access problem for Girls Higher Secondary.
Managing this required a communication structure above the level of any individual school — coordinating through Education Works, Saddar Town as the common supervisory authority, and establishing a clear protocol with all four school managements from the start. Construction zones, work sequences, and access arrangements were communicated to all affected parties before work began, not after complaints arrived. No school management was ambushed by disruption. The coordination was maintained for five years.
Five Years of Budget Cycles, Changing Supervising Engineers, and Continuous Accountability
A programme that begins in 2007–08 and ends in 2011–12 crosses five government fiscal years and at least three ADP budget allocations. There was a gap between the 2008–09 work orders and the 2011–12 remaining work phase — a period during which no work was executing, but the project record had to remain in a state where any supervising engineer could pick it up and understand exactly what had been done and what was outstanding.
The detail of the 2011–12 Remaining Work scope — structured across three parts with different rate schedules — was only possible because the prior phases were documented precisely. The Executive Engineer, Education Works Division-I, who issued the final work order, could verify the prior work accurately because the records existed to verify it. Documentation across a multi-year programme is not administrative burden — it is the mechanism that makes the next phase possible.
Building RCC Lab Tables in Classrooms That Needed to Return to Service
Constructing reinforced concrete practical tables in the Physics, Chemistry, and Biology laboratories required formwork, concrete pours, and curing — a sequence with a minimum timeline that cannot be compressed without structural compromise. The laboratories were out of use for the duration of this process, and school management wanted them back as quickly as possible.
The correct approach — and the one taken — was to sequence the lab work tightly across all three laboratories, not to cut short any stage. Formwork went in, concrete was poured, cure time was observed, finishing (Verona marble tops, tile surfacing, G.I. frames) was applied. No table left the construction phase until the concrete had properly cured. The result is laboratory furniture that has the structural integrity to withstand decades of heavy scientific use. A week saved on curing time is not worth a table that fractures.
Tiling a 153'×120' Campus Courtyard Around a School in Session
The courtyard and outer compound — several thousand square feet of tiled surface — had to be executed while the school was operating. Students and staff needed continuous access to all buildings. Large-area tiling in an active outdoor space generates mess, requires cure time per section before foot traffic can return, and creates a sequencing constraint: you cannot tile the whole courtyard at once and tell everyone to use a different route for two weeks.
The tiling was executed in planned sections, with pedestrian access maintained around each active section throughout. Each completed section was allowed proper cure time before being returned to use. The full courtyard was completed without a single day on which access to any building was blocked.
Delivering Within the PC-I Sanction — and Proving It
The government's Financial Review document confirms the PC-I approved budget was Rs.10.087 million. The combined actual tender value was Rs.9.639 million — Rs.0.446 million under budget. This is not a coincidence. Delivering a five-year, four-work-order government programme within the planning commission's approved budget requires cost management at every stage: disciplined procurement, accurate scope control, honest variation handling, and no inflated claims at completion.
The Financial Review was signed by the Sub Engineer, Deputy City Officer, and District Officer. The balance is documented. The project was delivered within budget. That is a record that speaks for itself — and one that keeps a contractor on the approved list for the next programme.
Five Years. Four Work Orders. One Contractor.
This project ran from 2007 to 2012. Four work orders. Multiple school units on the same campus — Boys Secondary, Girls Secondary, Girls Higher Secondary, Primary. Three science laboratories. A new RCC main gate. An entire campus courtyard tiled. A sports ground completed. Stair finishes in marble. Laboratories fitted with properly specified benches. Compound walls finished. Utility infrastructure — water supply, sewerage, stormwater — installed across the site.
Naffees & Sons received the first work order in 2007–08. A year later, the department issued two more work orders for the same campus — one for the combined school and one specifically for the Girls Higher Secondary School. Three years after that, in 2011–12, the Executive Engineer issued the final work order for the remaining completion works. The Head Mistress of the campus then certified in writing exactly what had been delivered. The Assistant Engineer signed the Handing Over certificate. The Head Mistress signed the Taking Over certificate.
That is a five-year record of continuous delivery on a single government campus. It is not the record of a contractor who was used once and not called back. It is the record of a contractor that the department — and the school — returned to, each time, because the work was done correctly.
What This Project Demonstrates About Naffees & Sons
A crore-level government contract, delivered within budget. The PC-I approved budget was Rs.10.087 million — over Rs.1 crore at 2007–12 prices, equivalent to roughly Rs.4 crore today. The combined tender value came in at Rs.9.639 million — under budget, documented in the government's own Financial Review, signed by three levels of the Works & Services hierarchy. Annual Development Programme contracts in CDG Karachi represent the highest tier of government construction work in the city, funded through the provincial development budget and administered through the Chief Engineer's office. Naffees & Sons executed one — within scope, within budget, across five years — and the paperwork proves it.
Government contractor qualification that very few firms hold. ADP contracts are not open to any registered contractor. They are awarded to firms that have demonstrated — to the satisfaction of the Works & Services Department — the technical capacity, financial standing, and administrative discipline to execute institutional programmes at this level. Being on that approved list is a credential earned over years of consistent delivery. Naffees & Sons has held that standing across multiple administrations since the 1970s. The P&T Colony contract is one entry in a long record.
Multi-institution campus management most contractors cannot do. Four separate schools. Four separate head teachers. Four separate timetables. Five years. No school day disrupted beyond what was communicated and agreed in advance. This is not a capability that comes from a single-building residential background. It is built from decades of government institutional site management on exactly this category of complex, occupied campus.
Specifications that lasted. Verona marble laboratory worktops. G.I. choukat frames. National tile courtyard flooring. Marble stair finishes. Graffito compound wall treatment. These are not budget-minimum choices. They are the specifications that produce a school that still looks right and functions correctly in 20 years. A contractor who specifies correctly is a contractor who is thinking about the life of the building, not just the invoice.
A document trail from first drawing to final handover. Architectural drawings by Education Works Saddar Town. Four government work orders. A government Financial Review. A Head Mistress certification naming every item completed. A formal Handing Over / Taking Over Certificate signed by the Assistant Engineer and the Head Mistress, with six site photographs attached. From the pre-renovation survey to the moment the keys changed hands — every step is on record. This is what accountability looks like in government construction.
Government School and Institutional Renovation in Karachi
Naffees & Sons has been executing government school and institutional renovation contracts in Karachi since 1972. The P&T Colony Model School Conversion is one of several major government school projects in our portfolio. Our record spans Education Works Saddar Town, Education Works New Town, District Officer Education Works-I, Executive Engineer Education Works Division-I, and the full CDG Karachi Works & Services framework.
If you are responsible for a government school, college, mosque, or civic campus in Karachi that requires renovation — a single building or a multi-phase campus programme — we will assess it correctly and deliver it to specification.
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