The Marva Lahai Award has recently been added to a set of In-school scholarships, known as the Combermere Alumni Excellence Awards which are a brand-new initiative of the Academic Development Group of the CSOSA. These awards are designed to assist students in paying for private tuition and, by so doing, help them improve their grades in exams.

This newest Scholarship brings the total number of awards available to senior students in October 2021 to 14. The winner of the Marva Lahai Award must be a Girl Guide in the senior school, and she must excel in a Foreign Language..

This initiative is a fitting tribute to my Sixth Form French Teacher, Mrs. Marva Lahai (née Lorde), who after retiring continued to render service to the school voluntarily. Now long into retirement, she is still committed to providing training for the Guides at Combermere School, a process halted only by COVID 19.

Mrs. Marva Lahai was born during the second world war. She was educated at the St. Augustine’s Girls’ School (now the Cuthbert Moore Primary School), St. Gabriel’s School and Queen’s College. She attended UWI Cave Hill and Mona.

With respect to her love of teaching, Mrs. Lahai stated:

I came from a line of school teachers. My father was a schoolteacher, and I had an uncle and an aunt who were also school teachers. In fact, my great aunt was the Headmistress of Hindsbury Elementary School which is an all-girls’ school. It is therefore no surprise that I became a teacher.

I started teaching at Combermere in 1972, when there were only male students. I must say that I had no problem teaching only boys. Mr. Cuthbert Moore was the headmaster at that time. I left Combermere in 2001.

Mrs. Marva Lahai belongs to a group of female teachers of the 1970s, who, though not having been students of Combermere themselves, became “Combermerians” in their own right. They greet you with the words “Up and on” as all Combermerians do. Their commitment to the school is undeniable and enduring. The other members of that group are Mrs. June Browne, Mrs. Pamela Hinkson, Mrs. Lola Larrier, Mrs. Annette Jebodsingh, Mrs. St. John, Mrs. Meta Nurse-Reifer and the late Mrs. Dorien Pile.

While Mrs. Lahai was a unit Guider, she rose to the rank of District Commissioner in charge of a number of Guide units of the Association. Later, she became the Division Commissioner of a number of Districts and finally was appointed one of the Assistant Chief Commissioners of the Association. Thus, she not only served Combermere with distinction, but her influence was evident at the national level.

The establishment of the Combermere Girl Guides unit is a reminder of the historic admission of female students into the First Forms at Combermere for the first time in 1976. Mrs. Lahai shared the following information about the history of the Girl Guides at Combermere School:

The Girl Guide unit at Combermere was established in 1976 when girls first entered the First Forms at Combermere. It was started by a group of 6th Form girls (Cheryl Kelly, Leonora Ward (deceased), Janice Bourne, Juanita Wade, Lorna Nurse and two teachers (Ms. Marva Lorde and Mrs. Lois Ince.) The then Principal said that they needed Sixth Form girls to assist. Mrs. Lois Ince and I were very ably assisted by the girls who were then in form six.

Our first unit was officially registered in January 1977 as unit 106. Mr. Cuthbert Moore was the principal at that time. Our numbers became so large that we had to open a second unit in 1989 and this became unit 132 under the aegis of Mr. Keith Roach.

During the years, our Guide Leaders were Mrs. Joy Adamson formerly Miss Joy Gittens, Mrs Sheron Griffith (Miss Sheron Daniel) a former Combermerian and Mrs. Roseanne Batson-Durant(deceased), also a former student Miss Sonja Batson, a teacher at the school, was at one time a unit helper.

Mrs. Lahai’s former Guides have started the ball rolling by committing to fund this award annually, commencing in October 2021. 

The Combermere Girl Guides’ contribution to the overall success of Combermere could easily be underestimated, mainly because they have been quietly effective, but there can be no doubt that it has indeed been a very powerful influence in the lives of many students who are now well placed in society, both here and overseas, and who are all carrying the Combermere flag.

On their behalf, we encourage former Girl Guides and students to contribute to this and the other Combermere Alumni Excellence Awards for the benefit of current and future students. You may wish to do so by going to the CSOSA website.