By Balwant Sanghera
A prominent educator and promoter of Punjabi language has just retired from service at New Westminster School District after teaching in BC’s public schools for 30 years. Deep Singh Sangra was a very popular teacher who, in addition to teaching in the public school system, taught Punjabi at various Gurdwaras, parenting education at camps, drug awareness programs at school and at various Gurdwaras. In addition to that Mr. Sangra organized and taught at summer and winter camps at a number of Gurdwaras and temples all across B.C. He was a familiar and well respected figure at some of the Metro Vancouver Gurdwaras. These included Khalsa Diwan Society, Vancouver, Akali Singh Sikh Society, Vancouver, Khalsa Diwan Society, Abbotsford and Khalsa Diwan Society New Westminster.
Deep Singh Sangra reinforced the concept that teaching is a noble profession. He did this in a variety of settings. This included teaching Punjabi classes at Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey from 1983 to 1998. In between he also taught at Khalsa Schools in Vancouver and Surrey from1986 to 2005, Dasmesh Punjabi School in Abbotsford and John Oliver Secondary School in Vancouver. Along the way, Sangra has been busy in offering free tutoring to students for Punjabi 11/12 exam preparation since 1975.His multiple services included translation services from English to Punjabi for his home school district of New Westminster. This included helping parents of Punjabi students in parent –teacher interviews and related activities. He has been instrumental in celebrating the International Mother Language Day at his school and the Khalsa Diwan Society, New Westminster for a number of years.
In 1999, Deep Singh, with co-operation of the Khalsa Diwan Society, New Westminster was successful in establishing Khalsa Scholarship at New Westminster Secondary School. This scholarship is awarded to qualified and needy students in Punjabi 11/12 classes. It is still going there. Another of Deep Singh’s significant contribution has been the implementation of Punjabi program at Queensborough Middle School (QMS) in New Westminster. This school,next to the Queensborough Community Park, has a large number of Indo-Canadian students. A few years ago Mr. Sangra approached me to convince the school and school district officials to start Punjabi language instruction there. After several meetings with PLEA representatives, the school district agreed to offer Punjabi at QMS. To his credit, Deep Singh took the responsibility for teaching Punjabi at QMS. This was in addition to his teaching assignment at New Westminster Secondary School. Since then the Punjabi program at QMS has been flourishing by leaps and bounds.
As part of the Punjabi program, students at QMS have been celebrating Vaisakhi every year for the past several years . I, along with many other community leaders, have had the privilege of being invited to the Vaisakhi celebration every year. The whole school gets actively involved in this process. It is a great way to promote not only the Punjabi language but also intercultural harmony amongst student, staff and the community. On behalf of Punjabi Language Education Association (PLEA), I am very thankful to Deep Singh Sangra for his wonderful service to the community and contribution to the Punjabi language. All of us wish him well in his retirement.
Balwant Sanghera is the President, Punjabi Language Education Association.
