Basic Education High School No. 9 Mandalay (; formerly, St. Peter's High School and State High School No. 9 Mandalay, commonly known as St. Peter's, SHS 9 Mandalay and BEHS 9 Mandalay (အထက (၉) မန္တလေး), is a public high school in downtown Mandalay, Myanmar.
Known during the British colonial days and parliamentary days of Burma as St. Peter's English High School, the Roman Catholic parochial school was the top school of choice for the children of the elite from Mandalay and Upper Burma. Many of the country's who's who in those days were alumni of St. Peter's. Many professionals and top-level leaders of Aung San Suu Kyi's government from Mandalay are also alumni of St. Peter's.
History
St. Peter's High School (1897–1965)
The school was founded as St. Peter's High School by the De La Salle Brothers, a Roman Catholic order on 1 May 1897. It was the first La Sallian high school founded in Upper Burma, and the third in the whole Burma after St. Patrick's in Mawlamyine and St. Paul's in Rangoon.
St. Peter's High School was started teaching over 80 students. In 1924, there were 11 teachers and 350 students, including 130 resident students.
Brother Director John managed the school for 18 years until he moved to St. Paul's in 1915. The swimming pool was constructed during his administration. Brother Clementian served as Brother Director from 1933 to 1948 for the first time, and from 1950 to 1956 for the second time. In 1952, Primary School was opened at the two-storey hall (now Nyana Hall) on the left side of the east gate. In 1955, a new Chapel and Study Hall were extended at the three-storey building. In 1957, during the administration of Brother Director Peter, a single-storeyed Kindergarten Hall was built on the southern campus of the school. It was reconstructed as a two-storey building (now Thiha Hall) in 1962–1963.
Since it was opened, the school accepted boys only for some time. The all-boys school was among the few early schools that educated the children of the country's British officers, the Anglo-Burmese, the Anglo-Indians and the wealthy Burmese. The language of instruction was mainly English in the early days, and bi-lingual for some classes in the later days. There were also some Hebrew classes for the Jewish.
State High School No. 9 Mandalay (1965-1983)
General Ne Win's military government nationalized the school in April 1965, and changed the name to State High School No. 9 Mandalay (SHS 9 Mandalay). The primary language of instruction became Burmese. The school, which used to have a "Roll of Honour" for its outstanding students, steadily lost significance, partly due to the new requirement to attend nearby schools as much as possible.
Campus
BEHS 9 is one of the few high schools in Mandalay with a sizable campus, covering perhaps 75% of the entire city square block. The compound of St. Michael's Church Mandalay, west of the school, takes up the other 25% of the block. (The school is bounded by 86th Shwetachaung road to the east and 87th street to the west.) Shwe Kyee Myin Pagoda, Basic Education High School No. 10 Mandalay (formerly, Diocesan High School), Basic Education High School No. 8 Mandalay (formerly, St. Joseph's Convent School), Basic Education High School No. 11 Mandalay, Basic Education High School No. 4 Mandalay, and Basic Education High School No. 1 Mandalay are located in the vicinity of the school.
During the World War II, when the school was transformed into a hospital, St. Peter's High School was reopened at the Norman school campus (now BEHS 4 Mandalay). Its campus moved to its original and current place in 1952.
The current school, BEHS 9, is open in the gated southern campus since the northern campus, inclusive of three-storey building, is donated to the Department of Basic Education, Ministry of Education in Myanmar.
The gated campus consists of: Nyana Hall (Wisdom Hall), two-storey red building, for ceremonial hall and principal's office (1st floor); examination hall (2nd floor) (It is the Main Hall) Nawarat Hall, two-storey building, for KG, Grade 1 and library (1st floor); devotional shrine room and language lab (2nd floor) Assembly field at the frontage of Nawarat Hall New Hall, L-shape one-storey building, for staff office, laboratory rooms and locker room (frontage); hostel for the principal (back side) Thiha Hall, two-storey building, for all classes from Grade 2 to Grade 11 Badminton and table-tennis courts Basketball court Regulation size football pitch Smaller practice football pitch; also used as outdoor volleyball and cricket courts Chinlone court Cafeteria.