Gujaratis celebrate 65th yr of community school in Singapore

Singapore's 4,000-strong Gujarati community has celebrated the 65th anniversary of a community school here, with dances and cultural programmes.
Minister of State for Education Indranee Rajah was among 500 guests who attended the event yesterday at the Singapore Gujarati School, which was established in 1947.
Rajah lauded the school's achievement in teaching Gujarati as a second language since 1993, when the Singapore government allowed mother tongue to be taught as second language.
Singapore has four officials languages - English, Chinese (Mandarin), Malay and Tamil. However, it promotes learning of mother tongue as a second language to sustain a multi-cultural society.

"The Gujarati language and culture have been kept alive and very much imbued in its youth and community," said Rajah.
"The Gujarati community is very close-knit and we frequently gather to celebrate festivals together," said Mita Shah, principal of the school.
"Parents are very supportive of the school and they want their kids to learn the language," she added.
The school, which started with one class of 15 students in 1947, now houses a sizable number of students.