Deccan Road Primary School’s former deputy principal and library doyen, Umreetha Ghela, has died after a long illness, aged 74. Born in Glencoe, she matriculated at the town’s M. Sultan Secondary School to which she returned to teach after obtaining her Lower Secondary Teacher’s Diploma at the University College for Indians on Salisbury Island (later absorbed into the University of Durban Westville, which is now part of the University of KwaZulu-Natal).
There, she had specialised in geography and fine art. While teaching, she acquired her Library Science diploma through the Education Department’s Library Service and later her Bachelor of Arts, majoring in English through the University of South Africa. Devoted to Deccan Road Primary School (DRPS), which she stayed for more than 30 years in spite of departmental requests for her to apply for top posts elsewhere, her special passion wasto encourage reading.
“In her 36 years at DRPS, Mrs Ghela taught and influenced hundreds, if not thousands, of learners,” former principal Siva Gouden said in a tribute. “She shaped young minds, built character and instilled values that extended beyond academics.” Gounden added that when Ghela became the teacher-librarian at DRPS, her passion for reading found a new home. “She viewed the library not merely as a room filled with books, but as a place of discovery, a space where children could travel the world through stories,” he said.
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