History of the Natal Indian Teachers Society (NITS)

The flame that was lit many years ago still burns bright as ever, fueled by the dedication, commitment and passion by a group of former teachers who paved the way for the building of the first Teachers Centre in the world in Durban.  Despite the building being sold, this proud history is still remembered today and will continue to a lasting legacy among the teaching fraternity. This is who it all began from the inception.

The idea of establishing an Indian Teachers Centre was first mooted at the 1948 conference of NITS. Two stalwarts, B D Lalla then president of NITS and an executive officer  AN Lazarus initiated the idea of a Teachers Centre to serve the basic needs of the organisation.

They were charged withe the responsibility of exploring ways and means of raising funds for the project.  Following the conference of 1948, tentative reports were received from time to time but little meaningful progress was made until 1957 when RS Naidoo, then NITS treasure, led the discussion on the formation of a public company.  He reported that teachers should participate in the venture as shareholders.

This was a novel idea and only a few in the organization had any knowledge of the working’s of a private company and even fewer of the membership were familiar with the role of being shareholders. Credit must also be given to N Gopal who had deep insight into the building industry and practical knowledge in raising bonds with building societies.

These men had business acumen over and above their roles as teachers and led the organisation in the direction of setting up a company. It took a great deal of influence to sell this concept to all teachers. Once it was understood and accepted, the membership entered whole-heartedly into the project.

It was soon resolved that the sale of shares to the membership required a marketing strategy and four volunteers agreed to carry it through to the schools and branches.  CV Ramiah agreed to promote the sales in Northern Natal while MK Naidoo covered the north coast and AR Singh the south coast.  KR Nair was to service the greater Durban area.