HISTORICAL SCHOOL BUILT BY DESCENDANTS OF INDENTURED LABOURERS TO CLOSE DOWN

Pix of the village (Some pupils in the earlier days who attended the historical Blackburn school)

(The school that will close down next month)

(A view of the estate where sugar workers lived and worked) By Subry Govender A historical school built by first and second generation descendants of indentured labourers at the Blackburn sugar estate, near Mount Edgecombe, will officially close its doors next month after serving the sugar workers and their children for 60 years. The principal, five staff members and 201 children of the M L Sultan Blackburn Primary School will move to a brand new 24 class-room school in nearby Cornubia as from July 18.

(This is the old temple where the children of the Blackburn sugar estate first attained schooling in English) The school, which produced some prominent religious, social, sporting, business and political leaders, had its early beginnings in April 1955 when members of the local temple decided to establish an English school to cater for children who had to walk to Umdloti Drift and Temple Valley in Verulam and Ottawa to attain some schooling. At this time only boys from the sugar estate went to schools in the neighbouring villages because parents were reluctant to allow girls to walk the long and treacherous distances to the schools.

(Mr Amber Ramdass, the first teacher)

A school was initially started at the local temple yard by the community and the estate's manager, Mr R Cheves.

(Mr R Cheves, the estate's manager who helped with the establishment of the school at the temple) They obtained the support of the principal of the Jhugroo Government-Aidied Indian School in Ottawa, Mr A.L. Narayadu, who provided some record books, a few pieces of blackboard and pieces of chalk. The school catered for about 80 children between the ages of five-and-half and 13. They were under the sole supervision of a teacher from Verulam, Mr Amber Ramdass. The parents contributed about two shillings a month from their meagre earnings in order to pay Mr Ramdass.

(Mr M L Sultan, the Muslim of Tamil origin who made a huge contribution to the development of the school at Blackburn and other estates in the early days) After a few years, the Temple Committee and Mr Ramdass embarked on a project to build a proper school because of the increasing number of children and the need for the pupils to study in required standards and proper conditions. The sugar estate workers contributed five shillings per family towards the project and with the help of the sugar estate management and the M L Sultan Educational Trust, a new eight class-room school was officially opened on November 21 1963.

(The Blackburn school which is to close down in July)

(Mr Kishore Sevlall, current principal) "Every brick and block at this school was laid solely by the people of this village," said Mr Kishore Sevlall, the current principal who has been at the school for the past 32 years. "The sugar workers sacrificed their money, time and labour to build this school because they realised the importance of education for their children. "They also wanted their girls to be educated because in those days the parents were not too happy about the girls walking to Ottawa, Umdloti and Temple Valley."

(The late prominent educationist and former principal of Verulam High School addressing parents at Blackburn) Over the past six decades, a number of well-known principals and teachers taught at the historical school. In addition to Mr Ramdass, they included Mr G Chinniah and Mr Suria Munien of Mount Edgecombe; Mr M Dookran, Mr D S Moodley of Verulam, Mr S Mangaree, Mr K R Singh of Ottawa, Mr K Naidoo of Reservoir Hills, Mr Amar Singh, Mr Kenny Naidoo, Mr Sparrow Rajcoomar, and Mr C L Naidoo of Sea Tides. Some of the prominent pupils who emerged from the school were the late Dr M J Naidoo, who was a prominent member of the Natal Indian Congress and the United Democratic Front(UDF) in Verulam; the late Mr C P Naidoo, a prominent businessman in Verulam; Mr Laz Bageloo, a prominent Verulam businessman, Mrs A Chettiar, who is a Deputy Principal at the Temple Valley Secondary School in Verulam; and the late Steve Sagadevan, who was a former captain of Young Springboks Football Club and Southern Natal Football Association.

(Historical documents and photograps on the walls of the principal's office) When Mr Sevlall arrived at the school as a teacher in 1983, there were about 400 families living on the sugar estate and all the children attended the primary school. The teachers had a very close relationship with the community in those days. "The people were very poor but yet they and their children had a thirst for education. The bond that we built in the community was so good that whenever any function or event took place they would look for the teachers. Even if there was a wedding they would invite us to talk. That kind of relationship is difficult to find any more.

(Some school pupils in the earlier days) "The children in those days were also much more disciplined. Today's kids lack discipline. Those who are interested, do their school work but others don't care." Since 1997 the sugar estate families began to dwindle down after workers reached pensionable age and they were told to find alternative accommodation outside the estate. Today, there are only three families of indentured heritage and eight black families on the estate. But they too have been given notices to vacate their homes after the estate was officially shut down on April 1 this year. Mr Sevlall said it was his view that the workers should have been given legal rights to the plots of land and houses that they and their forefathers had occupied for nearly 155 years.

(Some pupils in the earlier days) "That was our fight for people to be given their homes but they were given noticed to leave. In one case, two families were resisting to move but they moved them by force. "They wanted to set an example to other workers that they should not resist when asked to move after they retire," he said. "Most of these people worked for 30 to 40 years but yet they were still moved out without any accommodation. They had to buy their new homes. They are battling but they have been forced to use their pensions to buy new houses. What are they going to live on? "I know of one person who worked for 43 years but he only got R18 000. The company used their labour but did not take care of them. "They now have to rely on state pensions. The company should have provided alternative accommodation by building separate houses for them. "They were given a raw deal. The descendants of indentured labourers who worked here have not been treated properly. "I brought former Natal Indian Congress leader, Mewa Ramgobin, to help them but the estate management did not care."

(Some pupils in the earlier days) Mr Sevlall said the history of Blackburn Sugar Estate would now be lost with the closure of the estate and the school. "It's very very sad to see this estate and school close down because Blackburn has been of historical heritage to a lot of people whose forefathers and mothers were brought here to work as indentured labourers. "This place was part of our lives. We will miss the school and the community. The lifestyle here was completely different to what we find elsewhere. "The closure of the school and the shut down of the sugar estate will see yet another chapter in the rich lives of our indentured forefathers and mothers being lost to future generations," said Mr Sevlall. - ends ms/dbn