Today in History Today in History- Achimota College was formally Opened

Today in History- Achimota College was formally Opened

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Prince of Wales College and School, later Achimota College was founded in Achimota, Gold Coast (now Ghana) in 1924 by Dr. James Emman Kwegyir Aggrey
Prince of Wales College and School, later Achimota College

Prince of Wales College and School, later Achimota College was founded in Achimota, Gold Coast (now Ghana) in 1924 by Dr. James Emman Kwegyir Aggrey, Rev. Alexander

Garden Fraser, and Sir Gordon Guggisberg, the British Governor of the Gold Coast (1919-

1927), as an elite secondary school based on the British model of public education.

Governor Guggisberg urged local Gold Coast residents to create the institution to provide

teacher training, technical training, and secondary schooling for the colony.

The Governor’s request came after a committee he appointed in 1920 to investigate

education in the Gold Coast, recommended establishing a secondary boarding school.

The committee also recommended its location, in the coastal town of Achimota, about ten miles from Accra, the capital of the Gold Coast.

James Emman Kwegyir Aggrey

Prince of Wales College and School, later Achimota College was founded in Achimota, Gold Coast (now Ghana) in 1924 by Dr. James Emman Kwegyir Aggrey
Dr. James Emman Kwegyir Aggrey with the first students of Prince of Wales College and School, later Achimota College

Born and raised in the Gold Coast Colony, Dr. Aggrey served as a teacher and secretary of

the Aborigines Rights Protection Society before going on to the United States where he

earned a B.A. at Livingstone College, a small African American institution in North Carolina, and his Ph.D. from Columbia University.

Desiring the involvement of Dr. Aggrey in founding Achimota, Governor Guggisberg

acceded to all three terms set forth by Dr. Aggrey: African members of staff occupy an

equal position to Europeans; appointments would be the discretion of the principal, rather

than the colonial government; and the school would teach children as young as six.

Even though Guggisberg’s Committee recommended that girls not be admitted, Dr. Aggrey and Rev. A. G. Fraser stipulated that Achimota must be coeducational.

Achimota College hired staff before there were buildings, so that teachers could study the

local languages, establish local interest, and gain experience teaching in Gold Coast schools.

Official Opening

Prince of Wales College and School, later Achimota College was founded in Achimota, Gold Coast (now Ghana) in 1924 by Dr. James Emman Kwegyir Aggrey
Members of Dormitory 2B Achimota school, 1929

On January 28, 1927,  Achimota College was formally opened with 120 students.

The College was government-funded and in a unique break from missionary education

tradition, it was interdenominational, with students and staff practicing their own

denomination of Christianity. Additionally attending religious services was optional.

In 1948 Achimota College became three separate institutions, the University College of the

Gold Coast (now the University of Ghana), the Achimota Teacher Training College, and Achimota School.

Achimota College still operates today as Achimota School under the oversight of the Ghana

Education Service, providing a senior high school education to young women and men.

The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) also had its roots in Achimota College’s Engineering School.

Legacy

The school has educated many African leaders, including Kwame Nkrumah, Edward Akufo-

Addo, Jerry John Rawlings, and John Evans Atta Mills all of whom are former Heads of State of Ghana.

Former President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama had his primary education there while former Prime Minister of Ghana, Kofi Abrefa Busia also taught at Achimota.

Bibliography

  1. https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history
  2.  “Achimota School: 15 Successful Ghanaians Who Attended The Legendary College”. Ghana News Today | Latest
  3. News on BuzzGhana.com. 3 March 2017. Archived from the original on 23 February 2018. Retrieved 23 February 2018.

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