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Dr. Anna Mahase is a Trinidadian educator and administrator. She was principal of the St. Augustine Girls' High School in Trinidad and Tobago. She currently[ when? ] is the commissioner of teaching of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. She is noted for her service to education as well as to other public and charitable organisations.
Mahase was born in the village of Guaico, Trinidad, to Kenneth Mahase and Anna Mahase (Sr.). Her mother was the first Indian woman to become a teacher in 1918. [1] Her father was headmaster and her mother a senior teacher at several Canadian Mission (CM) schools. Both played a role in developing early education in rural North East Trinidad. [2]
Mahase attended the Guaico CM School (Guaico Presbyterian Primary School), followed by Naparima Girls' High School in San Fernando. Afterwards, she studied at Mount Allison University in New Brunswick, Canada, graduating with a BSc and BEd.
She subsequently received an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from Mount Allison University and another from the University of the West Indies.
After her studies, Mahase returned to Trinidad and Tobago and after was appointed headteacher of St. Augustine Girls' High School. She was the first local woman to hold this post. Her achievements and ideas became the standard for many other secondary schools.
During her long service, Mahase received many awards and honours.
National awards:
Notable service:
The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 18 English-speaking countries and territories in the Caribbean: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and Turks and Caicos Islands. Each country is either a member of the Commonwealth of Nations or a British Overseas Territory. The aim of the university is to help "unlock the potential for economic and cultural growth" in the West Indies, thus allowing improved regional autonomy. The university was originally instituted as an independent external college of the University of London.
Saint Augustine is a town in the northwest of Trinidad, Trinidad and Tobago.
The Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) is an examination board in the Caribbean. It was established in 1972 under agreement by the participating governments in the Caribbean Community to conduct such examinations as it may think appropriate and award certificates and diplomas on the results of any such examinations so conducted. The council is empowered to regulate the conduct of any such examinations and prescribe the qualification requirements of candidates and the fees payable by them. It is now an examining body that provides educational certifications in 16 English speaking Commonwealth Caribbean Countries and Territories and has replaced the General Certificate of Education (GCE) examinations used by England and some other members of the Commonwealth. The CXC is an institution of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM); it was recognised as an Associate Institution of the Community in the 1973 treaty that created the Caribbean Community. Members of the council are drawn from the 16 territories and the region's two universities, the University of Guyana and the University of the West Indies.
Kenneth Ramchand is a Trinidad and Tobago academic and writer, who is widely respected as "arguably the most prominent living critic of Caribbean fiction". He has written extensively on many West Indian authors, including V. S. Naipaul, Earl Lovelace and Sam Selvon, as well as editing several significant cultural publications. His seminal text, The West Indian Novel and Its Background (1970), had a transformational effect on the syllabus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) and the internationalization of West Indian literature as an academic discipline.
Naparima Girls' High School is an all-girls high school in San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago. The school was founded in 1912 by Rev Dr. Fulton Coffin to complement the education offered to boys by Naparima College. It is located on La Pique Hill which overlooks San Fernando.
Lakshmi Persaud is a Trinidad-born, British-based writer who resides in London, England. She is the author of five novels: Butterfly in the Wind (1990), Sastra (1993), For the Love of My Name (2000), Raise the Lanterns High (2004) and Daughters of Empire (2012).
Education in Trinidad and Tobago is free and is largely and primarily based on the British education system, compulsory between ages 5 and 16. Trinidad and Tobago is considered one of the most literate countries in the World with a literacy rate exceeding 98%. This exceptionally high literacy rate can be attributed, in part, to free tuition from Kindergarten (Pre-School) to University.
Vena Jules is an educator from Trinidad and Tobago. She was the new Senior Programme Executive for Curriculum Development at the Catholic Religious Education Development Institute (CREDI) (2009) Jules was appointed president of CREDI in July 2011. At the graduation ceremony in November 2013, Jules was awarded "the honour of being the first Fellow of CREDI". A CIDA scholar and graduate of Queen's University, Canada, Jules obtained her Ph.D. at the University of the West Indies (UWI). She was a senior lecturer at the School of Education of the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, where she served from 1983 to 2008. In 2004, she was one of four lecturers who was awarded the Guardian Life of the Caribbean Premium Teacher Award for excellence in teaching at the University of the West Indies.
Patricia Alison "Pat" BishopTC was a Trinidadian educator, music director, artist and cultural icon. She was one of the first women to arrange for steelbands and was the recipient of the Trinity Cross, the highest of the National Awards of Trinidad and Tobago.
Olive Walke, MBE was a Trinidadian musician and ethnomusicologist who was one of the first to collect regional Caribbean folk songs. She founded the well-known choir, La Petite Musicale and directed it for many years. Between 1961 and 1966, she served as a Senator in the first Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago established after its independence.
Rhoda Reddock is a Trinidadian educator and social activist. She has served as founder, chair, adviser, or member of several organizations, such as the Caribbean Association for Feminist Research and Action (CAFRA), the Global Fund for Women, and the Regional Advisory Committee of the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS established by UNAIDS. In 2002 she received the Seventh CARICOM Triennial Award for Women, was Trinidad and Tobago's nominee for the International Women of Courage Award in 2008, and was honoured in her country's National Honour Awards ceremony in 2012 with the Gold Medal for the Development of Women.
Winifred Gaskin, CCH, OD was an Afro-Guyanese educator, journalist and civil servant who entered politics. After a career in public service, she was appointed as the first high commissioner of Guyana to the Commonwealth Caribbean Countries organization. Her dedication to public service was honored with the Jamaican Order of Distinction and the Cacique's Crown of Honour, Guyana's second highest service award.
Gema Ramkeesoon was a Trinidadian and Tobagonian social worker and women's rights activist who was one of the early pioneers of the women's movement in Trinidad and Tobago. She was honored for her social service work as a member of the Order of the British Empire in 1950 and received the gold Hummingbird Medal from Trinidad and Tobago in 1976.
Courtenay Felix Bartholomew was a Trinidad and Tobago physician, scientist, and author. He was the founder and director of the Medical Research Foundation of Trinidad and Tobago. He was active in HIV/AIDS research, and was notable for diagnosing the first case of AIDS in the English-speaking Caribbean. He also led HIV vaccine trials and research on retroviruses with US institutions.
Christina F. Lewis was an Afro-Trinidadian community worker, trade unionist and women's rights activist. Through her political activities, she worked to improve the conditions of workers and women, advocating for universal adult suffrage and for British citizens of the West Indies to have the same rights and privileges as their counterparts in Britain. As a socialist, Pan-Africanist, and feminist, she merged anti-colonial policies with the struggle for women's rights and against racism.
Stella Piari Abidh (1903–1989) was a Trinidad and Tobago public health physician. She served as the Medical Officer of Health for San Fernando and as medical supervisor of schools in south Trinidad. She is believed to be the first Indo-Trinidadian woman to become a doctor.
Cynthia James is a Trinidadian Canadian writer and literary theorist.
Lisa Morris-Julian is a Trinidad and Tobago politician for the People's National Movement. She has served as a Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for D'Abadie/O'Meara since the 2020 general election. She is also currently a Minister in the Ministry of Education. She was the mayor of Arima between 2013 and 2020.
Bridget Brereton is a Trinidad-based historian, who is Emerita Professor of History at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine. She is the author of works including A History of Modern Trinidad; Law, Justice and Empire: The Colonial Career of John Gorrie, 1829–1892; Race Relations in Colonial Trinidad, 1870–1900 and her articles have been widely published in journals and as book chapters. She edited Volume V of the UNESCO General History of the Caribbean: The Twentieth Century (2004), and has been co-editor of several other books.