Remembering a great Nisecan teacher

Many of us who knew him still have fond memories of him. His name is Mr Asare—Mr S.M. Asare. He taught at Nisec up to around the early 1980s. Everyone knew him as the French Master, even though he also taught economics. He was young, smart, funny, a gentleman, always well presented and, above all, a great teacher. He was my role model.

Mr Asare wanted and helped each of his students to give their best shot at French. He was quite strict in class, but not as harsh or overbearing as some teachers were. Many people would blame their French teacher for not performing well in French, but this former Nisec teacher would certainly be an exception.

A soft-spoken man, Mr Asare also had a great sense of humour. His French lessons were interspersed with funny stories, including stories about his time in France as a student. I can recall one story he told of an African student who used to outsmart bus conductors by presenting used bus tickets with the dates chewed off. He would stick the ticket between his teeth absent-mindedly while the conductors went round inspecting them and when asked, would present the torn ticket as if he had accidentally chewed the date off. He would then apologise. But his deception caught up with him one day after offering too many of the same excuse.

Mr Asare was, perhaps, the only teacher at Nifa, apart from the headmaster, who owned a car—that small Renault hatchback economy car with a peculiar gear control. There might have been other teachers who owned cars, but I don’t remember. After Form 5, while relaxing at home in Adawso one afternoon, I saw a car similar to his car pull up in our driveway. What a big surprise. As it turned out, it was Mr Asare, who had managed to find where I lived to deliver the good or bad news about my O Level results. This marked the start of many acts of kindness I received from Mr Asare in the years following our graduation from Nifa.

After leaving the teaching profession in the mid-eighties, Mr Asare pursued a long and successful career with World Vision International, becoming national director of this global humanitarian aid, development and advocacy organization in Ghana. He also served overseas, including in Chad, Mali and London. Mr Asare retired from World Vision in 2008 and became Executive Director of the Prison Ministry of Ghana, a non-profit organisation that helps provide for the spiritual and physical needs of prisoners, rehabilitate them, restore their dignity and empower them to be productive.

The former French teacher and God-fearing man has now decided to enjoy a well-earned rest as a retiree, but still keeps his mind, body and soul active through writing, reading, church activities and hobby farming. He lives in Accra with his wife and regularly spends time in his hometown of Adukrom. All his children are now adults and successful in their own right.

I spoke with him recently about Nisec Alumni Abroad. He was very happy to hear about the work we were doing to help our former school and expressed his best wishes for NAA.

By Dr Kofi Boafo Ansah