In 1954, the Sisters of the Announcers of the Lord, following the fervent and enthusiastic preaching of St Theresa, formally began their missionary activities in Cheung Sha Wan. Under the leadership of the late Salesian Priest Reverend Father Joseph Cucchiara, the services provided by the Sisters were broadened. On 25th July 1956, which was the feast day of St. Jacob, the Sisters were granted permission by the late Bishop of Hong Kong, His Excellency Bishop Bianchi, to establish a school in Hong Kong.
The word ‘Tak’ was derived from the Chinese name of St. Theresa to denote the Sisters’ desire to teach youngsters to follow the good example of St. Theresa, so that they would become good children of the Lord and fine citizens of society. The word ‘Nga’ was taken from the Chinese name of St. Jacob because the Sisters wanted to commemorate the spirit of St. Jacob. These were the origins of the name of our school ‘Tak Nga’.
The founder of our school, the late Reverend Father Joseph Cucchiara, was determined to surmount all difficulties in establishing the school. On 15th November 1958, a parcel of Crown land of 13755 square feet on Tat Chee Avenue in Yau Yat Chuen was granted by the Hong Kong Government to build Tak Nga Primary School. The construction of Tak Nga was started on 25th February 1960. In order to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the martyrdom of Bishop Versiglia, Founder of the Congregation of Sisters ‘Announcers of the Lord’, the school was named ‘Bishop Versiglia Tak Nga School’.
The construction of the school building was almost finished in September 1960 when three classrooms were generously offered by the parish priest of St. Teresa’s Parish for the school’s temporary use. Tak Nga was moved to the new school building on 20th February 1961 when the construction was completed. Mr. Corkburn, Assistant Director of Education, and Mrs. Corkburn were the guests of honour in our opening ceremony in September 1961, which signified the beginning of Tak Nga’s contribution to the education in Hong Kong.
In its early years, Tak Nga only ran a primary section. Thanks to the insight of Father Joseph Cucchiara, who showed concern about the further education of Tak Nga’s pupils, the building of the secondary section of Tak Nga was then planned. Permission was granted by the Director of Education to build a secondary section on 1st May 1962. Lessons in the secondary section started in the same year. On 9th March 1963, the government granted a site of 19410 square feet adjacent to the primary section for the building of our secondary section, which was completed in 1964 and was blessed by His Excellency II Nuncio monsigneur Caprio on 3rd November in the same year. On 11th January 1965, all students started to have their lessons in the new building of the secondary section, and Bishop Bianchi officially blessed the school during a Thanksgiving mass on 3rd July 1965.
Tak Nga Secondary School first ran both a Chinese middle school and an English Secondary Section to suit the students’ needs. Later in 1976, the English Secondary Section increased her capacity while the Chinese middle school places were reduced due to the changing needs of society and the desires of parents. In the autumn of 1980, Tak Nga became entirely an English Secondary School.
