CHAPTER 8

Excerpt from Chapter 8 (pictures below)

In the 1950’s, there were very few first-class Secondary Schools in the Gold Coast. They were all boarding schools and were situated in the major cities in the country. They were:

Achimota School – in Achimota (near Accra) for boys and girls (Founded 1924)
Mfantsipim School – in Cape Coast for boys (founded 1876)
Adisadel College – in Cape Coast for boys (founded 1910)
Wesley Girls High School – in Cape Coast (founded as Elementary Sch. 1836)
St. Augustine’s College – in Cape Coast for boys (founded 1930)
Holy Child College – in Cape Coast for girls (founded in 1946)
Prempeh College – in Kumasi for boys (founded 1949)
Tamale Government Sec.Sch. – In Tamale

These schools were considered as first class because they were staffed by highly qualified teachers, who were recruited mainly from England, Ireland and Scotland. The schools were accredited for the students to be able to sit for the Matriculation Certificate Examinations of the Universities of Cambridge and London, England.

The duration of the course was usually four years.

Most secondary school students had to leave their small towns and villages to attend the boarding schools. The competition to enter these schools was very intense. For every space available there were at least twenty people competing to fill it. Before 1949, each school conducted its own entrance examination. However, in 1949, the Department of Education introduced the Common Entrance Examination to enable the candidates to pay only one examination fee. The schools then selected suitable candidates from the written exam results and called them for interviews before offering admission to well-qualified students.

Achimota College was the most prestigious of all the schools. The three major founders of the school were:

Sir Frederick Gordon Guggisberg KCMG, DSO, RE

Dr. James Emman Kwegyir- Aggrey

Rev. Alexander Gordon Fraser M.A., CBE

Dr. Aggrey was a visionary Ghanaian educational philosopher, who insisted that the school be established as a co-educational institution. He promoted the idea that:

“When you educate a man you educate an individual;

When you educate a woman, you educate a family.“

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