School with a history of success
LAIRWOOD Secondary School, which celebrates its 60 anniversary this year, has some outstanding alumni, including Judge Navi Pillay, politician Kamal Panday, KZN Oils boss Rajen Reddy and the late Minority Front leader Amichand Rajbansi.
Today, it is the largest technical public school in the province, and principal Yugan Naidoo says teachers continue to strive to uplift education, despite the many challenges the school faces.
Naidoo told POST that formal schooling in Clairwood dated back to the early 1900s and Clairwood High School began in 1956.
In the early 1970s an amalgamation of several schools, including HS Done Junior Secondary, Tagore Secondary and Clairwood Government Indian Girls’ School, created the new Clairwood Secondary.
At the same time, he said, workshops were established, allowing for the introduction of technical education combined with academic learning.
Naidoo said that from being an Indian-only high school, which once had 2 200 pupils and 120 staff, management had in the early 1990s embraced the winds of change and opened the school doors to all races.
“This was before any legislation was passed,” said Naidoo, who has been teaching here for 26 years.
“The school used creative ways and rose to the challenges of multicultural education.
“Some of those who made a lasting impression on the South African landscape include Navi Pillay, Rajen Reddy, Kamal Pandy, Amichand Rajbansi and hundreds of other prominent alumni are now found in every sphere of society.”
He said the school’s current enrolment stood at 1 150 from Grades 8 to 12, and had 46 staff.
Some 95% of the pupils are black, 3% Indian, 1% coloured and 1% white.
The annual school fees are R2 500 and their recovery rate is 9%.
Naidoo said it cost about R250 000 a month to run the school, but the minimal contribution from the KZN Department of Education meant staff had to embark on vigorous fund-raising campaigns.
The lights and water account averaged R40 000, security was about R40 000 and maintenance of the enormous property cost around R37 000.
Ranked Quintile 5, Naidoo said that regardless of this burden, the school, with the support of the community, sponsors and donors, had somehow remained clear of debt.
“The school is no more just an educational institution, it’s (also) a business. We have to manage it.
“We have to run it as a business, which means we must bring in money as a business and run it as a school.”
He said Clairwood Secondary was centrally located and because it was a technical school, offering subjects in motor diesel mechanics, welding, sheet metal work, building and construction, engineering graphics and design as well as electrical work, it attracted many pupils.
“There are not that many pupils who are academically inclined. If you do a skill, it will help you to become selfsufficient, especially at a time when unemployment is so high.”
Pupils come from as far as Chatsworth, Phoenix and Umgababa, on the South Coast.
Naidoo said one of the major challenges was that the buildings were old and needed care.
“There is no government maintenance and the cost to get buildings up to standard is quite high. Some of the buildings are in excess of 80 years old, and there is a dire need for outside funding to maintain and upgrade infrastructure.”
A few years ago the school experienced an average of 35 break-ins a year, Naidoo said.
Some expensive and muchneeded technical equipment was stolen and as a result the school had to employ a new security company.
This year there have been three break-ins, with chairs and other furniture stolen.
Due to some of the children coming from underprivileged homes, Naidoo said a local logistics company, GanTrans, provided about 270 sandwiches for pupils a day.
To strengthen its fundraising efforts, the school will hold a 60th anniversary dinner and dance on October 22 in the school hall.