Society opens new school
OUT of all the important dates in the history of the Gujarat Education Society, February 27, 1966 would rank among the best.
That is because it marked the opening of the 35,000-pound Nehru Memorial Primary School by the Legislative Council’s Member for Social Services, A D Patel, who officiated at the event in front of about 2000 people.
While declaring the school open, Mr Patel said one of the important events of 1966 was the Higher Education Mission’s plan to establish a regional university at Laucala Bay, now called the University of the South Pacific.
“We hope to get financial and technical support from international agencies and countries politically interested in the region,” said Mr Patel in The Fiji Times of February 28, 1966.
“Those who are sincerely interested in the educational advancement of Fiji and other regions of the South Pacific, I am sure will welcome the report when it is published,” he added.
Saying he hoped the parents of children who attended the new school would appreciate their good luck, Mr Patel added that he had been told that it used to cost 3000 pounds a year in transport costs alone when the children were attending school at Fletcher Rd. The new school meant students would not have to travel too far to attend classes.
“This in itself is a substantial economic saving,” he added.
By 1966, the Gujarat Education Society had, including the new school, three schools to its name.
Despite of the increase in use of audiovisual aids, Mr Patel said “it was absolutely essential that everyone should at least know how to read and write”.
He said he was “painfully aware” of the fact that there was an acute shortage of classrooms and schools in Fiji, and many children failed to get admitted each year.
“At a time of such acute shortage, the Gujarat Education Society had done a great service to the people of Suva by building such a large school,” Mr Patel noted.
A surprise speaker at the opening was Sir Christopher Cox, an education adviser.
Sir Christopher spoke of one of his recent visits to India when he was one of the external consultants of the Indian Education Commission, which had advised the government “on the whole range of education in the country”.
He referred to the tremendous enthusiasm for education in the State of Gujarat and the plans for the Nehru Memorial University in New Delhi.
Sir Christopher said he had heard a lot about educational development in Fiji.
Society president, K Parshotam, who delivered a welcome speech, said the occasion was one of great importance not only to members but also to Fiji and particularly Suva.
Dahyabhai N Patel, the secretary of the society, spoke of its history and R I Kapadia, a member of the management committee, announced that the society intended to later build a secondary school for girls nearby.
The society also had plans for teachers’ quarters and a playground.
“If you had come here three years ago many of you would not have believed it was possible to put a school of this size here because it was all bush,” he said.
The new Nehru Memorial Primary School was part of the Gujarat Education Society’s 20year development plan.
A vote of thanks was proposed by Ishwar Patel, assistant secretary of the society, and this was followed by entertainment from scholars of the new school and children from the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial High School and Mahatma Gandhi Primary School.
At a time of such acute shortage, the Gujarat Education Society had done a great service to the people of Suva by building such a large school – A D Patel