Chaconia Medal winner and former Principal of the St Augustine Girls High School, Dr Anna Mahase has died at the age of 91.
She passed early on Friday at Medical Associates Hospital, St Joseph.
Mahase was the Principal of St. Augustine Girls High School for over three decades, a recipient of the Chaconia Medal (Gold) and Medal of Merit (Gold) for her public service.
Mahase was born in the village of Guaico, Trinidad, to Kenneth Mahase and Anna Mahase (Sr.). Her mother was the first Indian woman to become a teacher in 1918. Her father was headmaster and her mother a senior teacher at several Canadian Mission (CM) schools. Both played a role in developing early education in rural North East Trinidad.
Mahase attended the Guaico CM School followed by Naparima Girls’ High School in San Fernando. Afterwards, she studied at Mount Allison University in New Brunswick, Canada, graduating with a BSc and BEd.
She subsequently received an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from Mount Allison University and another from the University of the West Indies.
Mahase returned to Trinidad and Tobago and after was appointed headteacher of St. Augustine Girls’ High School. She was the first local woman to hold this post.
Her other appointments included: Member of the Caribbean Examinations Council; Task Force for Removal of the Common Entrance Examination; Member of the Council of University of the West Indies; President of the Trinidad and Tobago Red Cross Society; Chairman of Trinidad and Tobago Television, NBS; Head Assessor Guardian Neediest Cases Fund; Chairman, National Commission on Accreditation; Government senator (temporary) during the 6th Republican Parliament (2001); Commissioner of Teaching Service Commission and Chairman of the Red Cross Carnival Committee