Isa, farewell Joan

from w
I was saddened to read of the passing of a former teaching colleague, Joan Raj Singh, a lovely woman who I knew many years ago at Dudley High School but then lost touch.

Education mentor passes on

writer : GEORGE RUBINE
3/15/2011
A longtime teacher and educator in the local education sector died in India at the age of 74. Joan Raj Singh passed away in Gurgaon, New Delhi, India on Friday, March 4. Mrs Raj Singh had an extensive career in education in Fiji where she taught at Dudley High School, Suva Grammar, Marist Brothers High School and the University of the South Pacific. She was born in Rangoon, Burma and grew up all over India where her father was a government official.

She came to Fiji in 1961 after her post-graduate studies in India when she married Raj Singh whom she met at university. Among other things, she was extensively involved in curriculum development for senior English and English Literature as Senior Education Officer in the Ministry of Education.

She also organized and choreographed the numerous Indian dances for the Fiji Independence Celebrations on October 10, 1970. Joan Raj Singh was very active in a wide variety of social and philanthropic activities in Suva.

These include serving on the Vestry of the Holy Trinity Cathedral, the organising committees of the Hibiscus Festival, the Secondary Schools Music Festival, and the Flower Show, being a Representative to the Fiji Council of Churches, Treasurer of the Fiji National Council of Women, a member of the Fiji Arts Council and PASEAWA.

But her most significant achievement was as a teacher and mentor to hundreds of young people over the forty years she lived in Fiji.