Located in one of Durban’s plushest suburbs, the Westville Hindu Primary School is one of a kind in KwaZulu-Natal. From the greeting of ‘namaste” (a traditional Hindu greeting) on the school telephone to the syllabus, the emphasis on Hindu and Indian disciplines is clear.
In addition to its core curriculum, subjects pertaining to Indian culture are taught in five of the school’s 50 weekly periods. This includes Indian languages, dance, music, yoga and meditation.
‘These subjects feature equally with the usual mainstream school subjects and they are offered in a formal and structured manner. The additional subjects are also assessed and graded as a normal part of the school curriculum,” says Bisraam Rambilass, the independent school’s principal and founding owner.
Rambilass, a former lecturer in Sanskrit at the now-defunct Department of Indian languages at the University of Durban-Westville, adds that learners at his school perform a havan ceremony every Friday morning.
‘This is a sacred ceremony where a fire is lit and offerings are made into it. A havan is central to all Hindu prayers, festivals and religious observances,” explains Rambilass.
From its initial nine learners when Westville Hindu Primary began in 2000, enrolment has now swelled to 55. The school accommodates learners from nursery school through to Grade 5, and they are hoping to introduce a Grade 6 class soon.
Currently, almost all learners adhere to the Hindu faith but the school’s doors are open to non-Hindus. The school enrolled its first African learner this year. ‘Neither the parents nor the children have any problems with the learner being exposed to aspects of the East,” says Rambilass.
He adds: ‘As Hindus we do not believe in converting others to our faith but we have no objection if children from other cultural groups want insights into Indian culture and values. After all, we have no problem with Hindu children going to Christian schools and learning ballet or Western music and musical instruments.”
There are six full-time academic staff, but their numbers are supplemented with part-time teachers of dance, music, computer literacy and sport coaches. ‘Our staff includes non-Hindus and people of different racial backgrounds as well,” says Rambilass.
According to Rambilass, the vision of the school is to ‘inculcate cultural values in a more serious and in-depth level.
No culture can survive if it is practised only at a superficial level. Our children will grow up knowing simple methods of yoga and meditation and having acquired basic skills in reading, writing and speaking an Indian language”.
Rambilass stresses that ‘tolerance education is central to all we do. It is not the intention of the school to isolate ourselves as Hindus and block out of the child’s life other religious practices.
‘For this reason, our learners wear a school uniform rather than dress in traditional attire. The idea is for our school to be seen as a normal institution teaching an essentially normal curriculum and for our learners to see themselves as part of a normal global culture.”
To this end, the school offers conversational Zulu, which includes other facets of African culture, and there is flexibility around diet: ‘Vegetarianism is part of the non-violent ethic espoused by our school and our attempt at fostering a feeling of love and compassion for all of God’s creatures,” says Rambilass. ‘However, we do not forbid our children from eating meat.”
Although underpinned by specific religious values, Westville Hindu Primary seems to have successfully avoided becoming a cultural island in an isolated stream.