Death Announcement of Narottam Ranpara

A GOLD MEDAL

for Zanzibar’s Narottam Ranpara

Narottam Harilal Dayalji Ranpara was born in Zanzibar on 11/11/1939. He started his primary education in Sir Euan Smith Madressa. Following his success in passing the Standard 8 “Entrance Exams”, he was admitted to the Government Boys’ Secondary School in 1956. In August 1958, this School changed name to “King George VI Secondary School”. Narottam continued his Form VI “A Levels Education” here to 1961, finally achieving the principal B grades in all his 3 subjects Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics.  In 1962, he joined the Royal College (Nairobi) in the faculty of Science as an “External Student of University of London” for General Degree in Bachelor of Science, and in July 1966 he graduated to obtain his B.Sc. General Degree. His senior in the same faculty at the Royal College (Nairobi)  was Mr. Sultan Peera Okera of Zanzibar.

Immediately after the revolution in Zanzibar on 12th January 1964,  the in-coming elected President  Abeid Amani Karume appointed  Narottam as a “Senior Education Officer” giving him the same status as that of the Overseas British teachers. He first initiated his teaching profession at Tumekuja Secondary School following a special request from Mrs. Sharifa Lemki (Bually). Besides his normal teaching task, in 1968 he was appointed as “The Chief Inspector of Schools for Mathematics and Physics”. Following this popularity, Narottam was in great demand. More senior appointments materialised:

·         In 1970, he was transferred to Lumumba College (former King George VI School) as the Physics Teacher for Advanced Level (Forms V and VI), as the  Head of Physics Department

·         In 1982, he was transferred to the Karume Technical College to teach Engineering Mathematics,  as the Head of the Social Studies Department

·         In 1984, he was appointed as the Examination and Scholarship Officer in the Department of Higher Education in the Ministry of Education

·         In 1987, he was appointed as the Registrar of Education in charge of all Government Schools in Zanzibar, until he retired in 2011

Whilst holding several senior posts, in period 1975-1985 Narottam was educed to many other tasks such as setting and marking National Examination Physics Papers for A level students with the National Examinations Council of Tanzania. He was also a member of the Tanzanian Mathematical Association and of Improvement of Education System in Tanzania by the Commonwealth Secretariat. He attended several associated meetings in Accra(Ghana),  Nairobi (Kenya), Bagamoyo(Tanzania) and Zanzibar. Dr. Kaluba was in charge of organizing other meets from London. There came a stage where Narottam’s fame reached the epic within the Zanzibar Ministry of Education- he was eventually popularly and fondly referred to as “the dictionary of Education System”  by the ministers.

Socially he was very active holding the post of Secretariat of  Zanzibar Hindu Union which dealt with the affairs of the Hindu Community.  At present Narottam has been elected as the Trustee of the Hindu Council of Tanzania. He was also an active member of Zanzibar Lions Club holding various club positions as a Treasurer, Secretary and Chairman. During the period 1983-1988 he was elected to be the Councillor of the Sokoine University of Agriculture. 

On 11th January 2014 celebrating the 50 years of the Zanzibar Revolution, Narottam was formally presented a Gold Medal by the present President of Zanzibar (Ali Mohamed Shein), and the chairman of the Revolutionary Council Of Zanzibar for his outstanding services in the field of education. This is one Zanzibari who should feel greatly proud of himself, for to say the least,  both the former President of Zanzibar (Amani Abeid Karume) and the present President of Zanzibar (Ali Mohamed Shein) were once his students.

Furthermore, during his life span Narottam met a lot of dignitaries such as Dr. Abdul Kalam, the PM of India Manmohan Singh and the present PM Narendra Modi.

Narottam Harilal Dayalji Ranpara, we Zanzibaris salute you too for your great tremendous achievements and services in the field of education. Well done !!!!