By Benjamin Adamafio Commey
Accra, Aug. 4, GNA – Mr Enock Adu Tieku, Chief Executive Officer of Adu Craft Furniture Limited, has donated classroom furniture and renovated a classroom block at Nifa Senior High School to improve teaching and learning.
The donation, valued at more than GH¢100,000, formed part of activities marking the 40th anniversary of Adu Craft Furniture Limited and aimed at expressing gratitude to the institution that laid the foundation for the entrepreneur’s career.
Items presented included 50 dual desks and chairs, teachers’ cabinets, storage cubicles, two writing boards, window louvre frames and blades, a solid mahogany panel door with fanlights and locks, while one classroom was fully renovated and repainted.
Speaking at the presentation ceremony, Mr Tieku, who is an old student of NISEC, said the gesture was his way of giving back to the school that equipped him with the practical skills, discipline and values that had enabled him to build a successful furniture manufacturing business over the past four decades.
“I sat in this very classroom 40 years ago. NIFA gave me the foundation and the practical skills that shaped my career. Today, I have returned to say thank you by contributing to the development of the school that made me who I am,” he said.
Mr Tieku attributed the success and longevity of Adu Craft Furniture Limited to the quality technical education he received at NISEC, coupled with hard work, honesty, integrity and dedication to customer satisfaction.
According to him, the practical training, supportive teachers and strong discipline at NISEC prepared students to excel in the world of work and entrepreneurship.
He urged old students of the school to actively support preparations towards the school’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations in five years by contributing to infrastructure development and other pressing needs.
“The government alone cannot do everything. Old students should come back to support the school and inspire the younger generation by showing that they also benefited from this institution and are giving back,” he said.
Mr Tieku also encouraged young people to embrace Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), particularly vocational and visual arts programmes, noting that Ghana needed more skilled artisans, engineers and manufacturers to drive industrialisation.
Receiving the items, Madam Rosebud Dzeke, Assistant Headmistress in charge of Administration, described the donation as timely and said the furniture would significantly improve classroom conditions, adding that the renovated classroom and quality furniture demonstrated the alumni’s commitment to the school’s development.
“The chairs have come at the right time and will greatly enhance teaching and learning in the school,” she said.
Madam Dzeke noted that the school had consistently benefited from the generosity of its alumni through various development projects and expressed optimism that such support would continue.
Despite this, she said, the school still struggled with inadequate classroom and dining hall furniture, insufficient dormitory accommodation, lack of staff bungalows and the absence of a modern assembly hall.
Madam Dzeke noted the school’s growing enrolment had outstripped the capacity of existing facilities and appealed to philanthropists, corporate organisations and other stakeholders to partner the school in addressing its infrastructure deficit to improve teaching and learning in the school.
“Currently, the school has an enrolment of about 2,910 students, and our infrastructure is under considerable pressure,” she stressed.
“We therefore appeal to individuals and organisations to support us in providing the facilities needed to improve teaching and learning.”
Patrick Batsa, the Boys’ School Prefect, expressed appreciation to the donor and appealed to other old students to emulate the gesture by supporting the school’s development.
Mr Hector Nyinaku, President of the Nifa Old Students Association (NOSA), advised students to study diligently and make good use of the furniture and facilities provided.
He commended the 1984 year group for its continued commitment to the development of the school, noting that the group had earlier constructed and donated a 16-seater lavatory facility for female students.
NISEC, a Category B co-educational public second-cycle institution located at Adukrom in the Okere District, was established in 1971 following the phasing out of the Adukrom Teacher Training College.
The school admitted its first batch of 70 boys on October 16, 1971, while girls were enrolled a year later. The name “Nifa” was adopted in 1973 to reflect the Nifa Traditional Area in Akuapem.
Currently, with a student population of nearly 3,000 and a teaching staff of 134, the school offers programmes in Science, Business, General Arts, Visual Arts, Home Economics and Agriculture.
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Odeng Adade
Reporter: Benjamin Adamafio Commey