ITI donates 60 decks and chairs to St Therese Primary School

BY THOMAS DILU
ST Therese Catholic Primary School Grade Eight students will have the comfort of using 60 new desks and chairs donated by the International Training Institute (ITI).
Head teacher Patricia Avire said 10 students in each grade had been sitting on the floor since the academic year started.
“I am happy my Grade Eight students will be sitting at new desks with chairs for their mock exams next week,” Avire said, adding priority would be given to those 60 Grade Eight students who were sitting on the floor.
Avire said in their school learning improvement plan, they placed priority on buying desks and chairs.
ITI made a first step in donating the 60 new desks and chairs.
“The school was established in 1928 and most of the buildings had deteriorated, so this donation from ITI will help the school,” Avire said.
She said the chairs and desks coming from ITI was a new start, but student numbers were increasing due to more parents still seeking spaces for their children.
She said the school has 28 teachers and almost 2,000 students.
Head boy Joseph Swalili thanked the ITI for its kind gesture and said the donation came as a blessing to the school, especially for the Grade Eight students.
Making time to present the donation, ITI chairman and co-founder Senthil Kumaran Sentheyval said this donation cost K16,000 and it was just a start.
“This is just a start for this school (St Therese Primary) and we will be doing this to other schools around the Badili area,” Sentheyval said.
“We are also helping schools and other social groups including sports groups as well.”
According to Sentheyval, similar donations will be carried out for other schools which ITI had come up with a list, but the schools needed to advise on which areas ITI could support them.
ITI would look at other areas as well to help the school by working closely with its administration.
ITI is focused on helping schools leading up to its 25th anniversary.
“All our students come from schools like this, from primary then to high schools and secondary and ending up with us,” Sentheyval said.
“So it’s a way of helping, giving back as our corporate social responsibility for ITI.”
The school had also received help from Ela Motors Badil, Bank South Pacific Financial Group Limited and Moore Printing Limited.