History Of Drasa Secondary School

In 1924, a Primary School was established in Drasa named as Drasa Indian School. The land was donated by one prominent person Late Mr. Aruna Jalam Pillay. Running the primary school from 1924 successfully, the people of Drasa decided to build a secondary school in Drasa. The management board applied to the Ministry of Education for a secondary school. The Ministry of Education requested the Management Board to deposit ten thousand dollars [$10,000.00] to get the approval. On that basis, the management board spoke to the residences of Drasa and seventy four [74] prominent people agreed to donate one hundred dollars [$100.00] each to get the project on ground. Those seventy four people are known as foundation members today. On the 50th Anniversary of Drasa Indian School, The Drasa Junior Secondary School was established. The foundation was laid on 22nd July, 1973. The founding of Drasa Secondary School was the biggest project of the residence was Drasa. The school is situated about 6km from Lautoka Town towards Ba. The main purpose was to educate the outgoing children in Drasa community after completing primary education at Drasa Indian School. After completion of the building The Drasa Junior Secondary School was officially opened by then Permanent Secretary for Youth and Sports, Mr. Filipe Bole on 23rd August, 1974 with 293 pioneer students. The First Manager of Drasa Secondary School was Mr Narayan Raman. The school started with Form 1 to Form 5. After three years the Drasa Junior Secondary School was upgraded to Drasa Secondary School. The controlling authority of the school is Drasa education Society. Building and construction of rooms amounted to one main concrete block. In 1978, Drasa Vocational Training Centre was established in Drasa Secondary school to cater for the drop outs. In 1985, these buildings were devastated by Cyclones Eric and Nigel. Block B and C were completely ruined and Block A had its roof blown off. Repairs were done to block A and Block B and C had to be completely replaced and all the work was done by Fiji Military Forces at a cost of $84,000.00 of which $40,000.00 was given by the government and $44,000.00 was paid by the Insurance Company. There was a major problem of water cuts therefore the management board decided to have a bore hole for the school, hence the Bore Hole was dug and Water Tanks was installed to improve the water services in the school. In 2005, Vocational Catering and Tailoring department was also opened at the school. The school did not have to build any classroom since the number in Primary school had decreased due to opening of another primary school [Sathya Sai School] in same area, just about a kilometer away from Drasa Indian School. In 2009, a major flooding occurred and destroyed most of the books in the Library, Book Room and computers in the Computer Lab and damages were done to BLOCK A( down floor) and Block B and C. For that reason the Library and Computer rooms were shifted to the top floor of Black A. Ministry of Education provided $80,000.00 for rehabilitation of damages sustained by 2009 flood. Major renovations were done to Home Economics lab, Chemistry and Biology lab, Catering and Tailoring departments, Industrial Arts and Vocational Automotive Engineering. Through the grant received by Ministry of education we are able to improve a lot of facilities in the school in terms of teaching and learning and infrastructure. Currently, Drasa Secondary School has a school roll of 510 students. There are four streams of Year 9 and three streams from Year 10 to Year 12 and two streams of Year 13. The Vocational Training Centre provides a two year programme in Mechanical Engineering and Catering and Tailoring.