Vernacular Institute to honour teachers
PIONEER teachers, in the days when Chatsworth was banana farms and market gardens, will be honoured at a get-together arranged by the eight-decades-old Chatsworth Vernacular Institute.
Retired educationist and Tamil scholar, Dr AM Pillay, will be the guest of honour.
From almost a century ago, Indian market gardeners eked a humble but honest living from the soil in Chatsworth.
However, they wished for their children to pursue less arduous but better-paying jobs. Sadly, there were insufficient schooling facilities for their children.
The Chatsworth Vernacular Institute was formed in 1938 for classes in Tamil, Hindi, Urdu and Telugu.
Later the Bayview Government-Aided School was established for English education.
Yogin Devan, a trustee of the institute said: “When it was decided to build a school for vernacular education and later English education, donations came from philanthropic well-wishers and benefactors.
“When the Bayview School was built, community leaders served on various committees such as the school fund committee, sports committee and the school feeding scheme to ensure the smooth running of this hallowed institution.
“The school had a band of dedicated teachers, who worked hard to make Bayview School a cradle for academic achievements whilst producing many men and women who became leaders in various fields.”
Devan said, when the banana farms and market gardens began making way in the early 1960s for the Chatsworth municipal housing scheme, the school roll began dropping as pupils began attending the many new schools that were built in neighbouring areas.
“When the school closed its doors, it was initially used for various cultural activities. Today the Chatsworth Vernacular Institute has leased its property to the Sathya Sai School Chatsworth, catering for primary and secondary education as well as the imparting of moral values.”
However, in order to rekindle the memory of all those pioneers who sacrificed their meagre incomes to build the school, the Chatsworth Vernacular Institute hosts an annual get-together.
Those who will be honoured at this year’s reunion function are retired educators Faith Maureen Chellan, Neela Maharaj, Rawhotarie Naidoo and Daliah Naidoo, who taught at Bayview School.
The event will take place on Sunday, October 1, Bayview School (now Sai School) at 98 Powerline Street, Westcliff, Chatsworth, 2pm. – Staff Reporter