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Ġużeppina Deguara was born at Zejtun in 1865. At twenty-six
years of age she was appointed by the Education division to teach at the
girls' primary school in Zejtun. In 1919 Dr. A. V. Laferla, the director of
Education, asked Ms. Deguara to open a small school in Marsaxlokk.
Ms. Deguara was seriously dedicated to the teaching profession and she worked
hard to teach the children living in this small fishing village. Apart from
the normal teaching hours during the day, Ms. Deguara opened also a morning
class for wives and young ladies who wanted to attend school as well
as to learn sewing, knitting, crochet etc.
In 1922, Ms. Deguara was
appointed as head of school at Marsaxlokk primary school. With the help of some
other teachers who were appointed to teach at her school, Ms. Deguara managed to open
another four classes. She also set up the continuation classes after normal
school hours, the night classes for wives and when time permitted she also
gave private lessons at her house. In 1930 she rented her own house, which
at that time was situated in 22, Zejtun Road, and came to live in Marsaxlokk
for the rest of her life.
Although the director of Education appointed a young teacher (Mr. Emanuel Spiteri who later on was also appointed head of school) to help her out, Ms.
Deguara still felt the pressure of work. This was mainly due to her age and
her continuous dedication to the teaching profession. In 1936 she formally
asked the director of Education to resign from her position. Her request was
accepted and she officially retired from head of school at Marsaxlokk primary
in January 1937 at the age of 71 after forty-seven years of service.
Ms Ġużeppina Deguara will always be
remembered as a dedicated and hard-working teacher at our school. |
