“Each pupil can and must succeed” is the motto of the Hindu Girls College. But this should not be subject to any kind of condition. This school in Curepipe, which welcomed the prime minister, Navin Ramgoolam, last Thursday at its annual prize-giving ceremony, insists on not bowing to the sole rule of performance. Of course, results are important and the school is particularly proud of its success rate but education is above all about learning to live.

“Our main ambition is to succeed in making this little girl who arrives in Form I become an accomplished woman at an academic level but also with strong values in order to make sure that she will be able to deal with challenges of life and take on her responsibilities at home and at work,” says Shilla Gangoosingh, the school rector.

One of the main characteristics of the Hindu Girls College is the emphasis put on ancestral values and culture. “We try and make them understand that they can be modern women without losing their cultural heritage – if they do so they will become a pale imitation of modernity. We do not want our girls to become kites with no connections,” adds Shilla Gangoosingh with a broad smile.

To know where one comes from is already to learn to be oneself. The management sees the school as a big family where each member takes part in the all-round development of everyone and love is given a great place.

However, Shilla Gangoosingh says no confusion should be made even if the name of the school is “Hindu Girls” and if a great place is given to culture. “Culture has nothing to do with religion. I can be a Catholic, a Muslim but believe in Hindu values,” insists the rector who went to the Loreto Convent Quatre-Bornes before joining Loretto House of Calcutta in India for her tertiary education. As she started managing the school in 1986, she has kept on applying what she was taught in India.

Today, the school benefits from a very good reputation. The recipe that has been applied with consistency for so many years is showing results. With a growing population – from 1,065 in 2001 to 1,373 this year – Hindu Girls is among the top 5 best performing schools. It has obtained 100 % pass rate in the School Certificate for three years while the rate for the Higher School Certificate has been 91.4 since 2005.

<B>Consistent recipe shows results</B>

“Our ambition is to reach 100 % for the final exam of the secondary cycle while improving the quality of performances without betraying our principles,” Shilla Gangoosingh points out.

But in order to achieve this level, the school had to make some sacrifices. When it was set up in 1945, when secondary education was more a privilege than a right, the desire of the founders was to fill a huge gap. “There was a great need for a girls’ college because there was very little room for them in the system,” remembers Choachand Gopee, the secretary of the Hindu Girls Association, the organisation controlling the school.

It was an extension of Vedic Vidyala primary school, managed by a branch of the Arya Samaj, the founders. They decided to call for donations.

They needed 52 weeks to gather Rs 12,000 and they had to struggle to obtain Rs 11,500 in order to buy the plot of land where the school is standing today. This helped pupils to move from the Arya Samaj building towards a dilapidated building made of sheet metal. It was only seven years later than the building in cement was inaugurated. At that time, there were 317 pupils.

A long way has been travelled since then. Shilla Gangoosingh intends to make a request for seven more classrooms in order to reduce the teacher/pupil ratio. “It is easier to offer quality service when classrooms have fewer pupils,” she guarantees. This is a condition for excellence-based education.