JOHANNESBURG, OCTOBER 19, 2004
IANS
Almost 70 years after the Transvaal United Patidar Society started
a school in the suburb of Fordsburg here, the tradition of children
studying Gujarati and other subjects graduating continued this weekend.
The Shree Bharat Sharda Mandir (SBSM) School was started by the Gujarati
community concerned about educating their children in the language and
culture that they considered so necessary.
Reflecting the new democratic order in South Africa, the school, which
originally had only Hindu students, this year saw not only African students
but also Muslim students who would normally attend a madrassa.
Ranjit Dana, the current chairman of the school board, said the foresight
of the early settlers had ensured that children today reaped the benefits.
"The aim was always to maintain the Gujarati language as a tool
to retain religion and culture."
Dana said the recent growing numbers at the school was also due to
the interest from migrant communities from India and Pakistan keen that
their children learn Gujarati.
So it came as no surprise to learn that among the top students this
year were children who had recently settled here with their parents
from Gujarat.
However, the school was facing a problem of dwindling numbers as far
as South African Gujaratis are concerned, as the community has begun
moving into suburbs previously reserved only for Whites under the apartheid-era
Group Areas Act, Dana said.
"We are at present looking at other ways of bringing the language
to our children in the community," he added.
But the children were unperturbed by the peripheral activities of the
board as they showed in their performances that they were truly South
Africans.
A highlight was an item in which the children performed a well-choreographed
piece in support of the 2010 Soccer World Cup to be staged in South
Africa against a huge stage backdrop which proudly proclaimed: "I
am an African" -- a refrain popularised by President Thabo Mbeki.