Keat Hwa Secondary School (吉华国民型中学) was first established in the year 1911 after a name change from Chung Hwa School.
Its establishment came about due to problems in the Chinese community caused by the prevailing low educational and cultural standards, not forgetting the local businessmen's involvement in unfavourable forms of entertainment and the presence of many gambling dens.
The school premises were first located at the Hokkien Association and the school catered for about 100 students.
In 1924, the President of the School Building Committee succeeded in obtaining an International Chinese film for screening in the quest for donations towards the construction of the school building.
Around the year 1935, three schools, namely the Chung Hwa (Boys) School, the Chung Hwa (Girls) School and the Nam Keow School, were combined into one...the Hwa Keow School. This led to an increase in the enrollment to about 600 pupils.
In 1939, the first Form One class was started and the name of the school was changed to Hwa Keow Primary and Secondary School. Owing to the large number of pupils, the school premises at Kampung Perak could not accommodate all of them and as such, the pupils had to be broken up into three different locations. This resulted in poor administration of the school.
In 1940, a block of buildings was built on the left side of the school and there was an increase to more than 10 classes of pupils. A basketball and a badminton court formed part of the new facilities available to the students. More importantly, all the students could study within the same school compound.
In 1941, World War II came to our shores and when the Japanese came, the school had to be suspended.
The Japanese occupied our school premises but when they surrendered in 1945, Keat Hwa School was restarted with even an increase in its enrollment.
In September 1949, a plan to build new premises at Kampung Perak was hatched. All the pupils contributed One Dollar a month towards the building fund.
In 1950, the Kampung Baru site was bought for $28,000 in cash.
On 30th July 1950, HRH the Sultan of Kedah laid the foundation stone of the new premises.
On September 1951, a school hall and twenty-two classrooms were planned for at a cost of $230,000.
The new school premises at Kampung Baru were completed in 1953. It was the biggest Chinese school in Kedah with 2000 students at both primary and secondary levels.
In 1954, the School Board decided to allow the secondary session use the Kampung Baru premises while the Kampung Perak premises were for all the primary classes. As such, renovation of the Kampung Perak premises had to be carried out.
In 1954, the school hall and eight classrooms were ready. In 1956, ten more classrooms were in place and in 1958. eight more classrooms were added with ten more classrooms in 1959, complete with a row of toilet facilities.
In 1958, the administration of the primary and secondary sections of the school were separated. The primary section was split into three parts namely Keat Hwa (H), Keat Hwa (K) and Keat Hwa (S) ie as they exist today. Keat Hwa (H) & (K) will alternate as morning and afternoon sessions at Kampung Perak while Keat Hwa (S) will be in the afternoon at Kampung Baru with the Secondary School in the morning.
In 1963 the secondary school name was changed from Hwa Keow Secondary School to Keat Hwa Secondary School.
In 1964, the premises at Kampung Baru was found to have aged especially so for the toilets. Consequently, the School Board applied for a grant sufficient to renovate the premises but only $6,000 was approved in spite of numerous letters of appeal. Finally, the School Board successfully invited Mr Khir Johari, the Minister of Education at that time, to make a visit to the school whereupon a renovation grant of $100,000 was subsequently obtained.
In 1965, the secondary entrance exam in primary schools was abolished and all the pupils of the three Keat Hwa primary schools could continue their education in SMKH. As a result, SMKH faced a serious shortage of classrooms with Keat Hwa (S) Primary School sharing the premises at Kampung Baru.
Luckily for the school, help came from the Chief Education Officer and a State Assemblyman. Approval was obtained for the construction of new premises for SMKH at Jalan Kuala Kedah from the then Minister of Education. A sum of $1,100,000 was paid for the construction of the new premises.
In 1968, the Minister of Education graced the Annual Prize-giving Day of SMKH. HRH the Sultanah of Kedah gave away the prizes to the students and a royal pledge was made to present a SULTAN's GOLD Award every year.
In 1970 the new buildings at Jalan Kuala Kedah were ready for occupation. There were 24 classrooms and a school hall. On the 23rd of August 1970 our lucky pupils then moved in.
Unfortunately, another 18 classes of pupils had to continue to use the Kampung Baru premises and it became well-known as the Branch School of SMKH ... even till today! By then there was a total of 42 classes with 1756 pupils!
