Achimota School

Once inhabited by eagles, owls, and alleged spirits of assorted types and powers, the word Achimota in the Ga language means "you don't speak someone's name here. What was once feared as a dark and mysterious stretch of forest has now become an internationally recognized beacon of light and knowledge, a non-denominational, Christian institution tha... t accepts students from all religious backgrounds. The school was founded in 1927 as the country's first government co-educational boarding institution. Governor Gordon Guggisberg, a colonial administrator in this country, Reverend A. G. Frazer, the school's first principal, and Dr. Emman James Kwegyir Aggrey, a Gold Coaster, were the school's founding fathers. In 1920, a year after assuming office as governor of the Gold Coast, Guggisberg expressed his dissatisfaction with the country's secondary educational system and set out to improve it. He appointed a committee of educationists under the chairmanship of D. J. Oman, the then-director of education, to "investigate educational efforts on the Gold Coast, their success and failure, with reasons for each, and to make recommendations for educational policy. The committee recommended, among other things, the establishment of a secondary boarding school for boys near Achimota village. In 1925 Governor Guggisberg published his 16 principles for the future guidance of Gold Coast education. Intriguingly, nearly all of these principles were implemented concurrently with the construction of Achimota School. Indeed, Guggisberg envisioned it as a "research laboratory for education," his solution to the country's educational problems, and the cornerstone of his plan of sweeping reforms. Enter Reverend A. G. Frazer, the college's first principal. Frazer altered Guggisberg's blueprint in two ways: instead of a boys' secondary boarding school, the college would become a co-educational institution. Secondly, its educational programme would begin with primary school children rather than secondary pupils. Dr. Emman James Kwegyir ...Read More