Celebrating 90 good years at Shakaskraal Primary

In celebration of its 90th anniversary, Shakaskraal Primary School will be hosting a fun day, starting with a fun run on next week Wednesday.

The school comes from the humble beginning of a small rented house by the first principal Issac Athman in 1927 and has now expanded to 30 classrooms with 1177 enrollment.

The school started as a private school and Athman was paying a pound a month to keep the school running.

After a Shakaskraal and District Indian School Society was formed, money was raised to buy two acres of land.

Construction started and it was completed in March 1928.

The school had an enrollment of 121 pupils from class one to standard three. The official opening was done by Srinivasa Sastri, the first agent-general for the government of India.

The schools first examinations were written by C. K Moodley and Charles Pooran, they were both accepted as the pupil- teachers at the school.

By 1941 there was a long waiting list of children seeking admission and thanks to Boodhia Maharaj, widow of Palwan Maharaj who was a foundation member of the school’s society, donated four acres of land in memory of her husband.

That is where the current school is located.

“The school is basically a product of very proactive and united residents that donated the little they earned working on the farms,” said Sivalingum Subban who was a pupil at the school and now he has been teaching at the school for more than 30 years.

He said the school was run by teachers hand in hand with parents.

Maximum discipline was implemented, which drove the school into being one of the recognised Primary Schools in KZN.

“It is unfortunate that parents now tend to forget about the school as soon as their children leave the school, back in the days, the school was every resident’s business,” he said.

His biggest wish for the school is to see residents more involved and more attention paid to the discipline of the pupils.

The principal Poovalingum Govender, who has been with the school since 2009, said he is proud of the school’s development.

“I arrived when there were 28 classrooms and four were demolished and five were rebuilt. Teachers managed to raised to R1million to do this. Thanks to all who contributed in raising the money,” said Govender.

The school’s annual prom is one of their biggest fundraising events with a target of raising R100 000 every year.

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