Dashmesh Punjabi School

Creator: Gill, Dalip Singh

Creator: Chand, Nirakshik

Interview with Dalip Singh Gill. Dalip Singh moved to Canada in 1982 to attend his nephew's wedding. He traveled around Canada and noticed that there were no independent schools that had been founded by a South Asian Canadian. He found that South Asian Canadian children did not have the opportunity to know about their culture, which led him to start his school that combined both the BC curriculum plus heritage/culture and language courses. He wanted to create a school that had a purpose of providing quality education with South Asian cultural elements included. In 1983, Dalip Singh was invited to a meeting regarding the possibility of having a school as part of their new temple. After the meeting, he found a great deal of people supported his idea. That day he started to contact the parents that were interested in putting their kids in school. On the first day of school, there were 80 students. Khalsa Diwan decided to form a separate committee for the school which led to the establishment of Dasmesh Punjabi school. He prematurely retired from the training teacher's school in India. In 1986 they introduced the tuition fee. In 1996, they had two buildings for the school. This interview was recorded at Dasmesh Punjabi School by Nirakshik Chand.

Creator: Budzunski, Evelyn

Creator: Chand, Nirakshik

Interview with Evelyn Budzunski. Evelyn Budzinski was the first teacher hired at Dasmesh Punjabi School in 1986. She had always been interested in the Sikh community, but did not know if her beliefs and religion would be a problem in her being employed at a Sikh school. The school taught all necessary subjects stated under the BC curriculum, as well as some extra subjects related to the Sikh faith, such as Punjabi. In the initial days, being the only teacher meant she did not have any breaks, not even have a break to eat her lunch. After hiring more teachers she was able to take breaks and enjoy professional input. She has learned a lot about the Sikh community and hopes that different cultures can learn about each other as well. This is a full-length interview recorded on May 28, 1996.