History
The idea of establishing a collegiate school to raise educational standards in the Gold Coast was first mooted in 1865 but it was not until 1876 that The Wesleyan High School was established in Cape Coast with donations from local businessmen and the support of the Methodist Missionary Society in London. The school was established to train teachers and began with 17 pupils. It was originally planned to be sited at Accra because the British Government had by 1870 decided to move the capital of the Gold Coast from Cape Coast to Accra. However, local agitation and the urgent need to put the idea into practice after eleven years of debate pressurized the government to allow the school to begin functioning but on the understanding that it would later be moved to Accra. Had that happened, it would not have been called "Mfantsipim" since the name means "a countless number of Fantes".
John Mensah-Sarbah, who came up with the word "Mfantsipim" stated at the opening of the school that its aim was "To train up God-fearing, respectable and intelligent lads".
Wesleyan High School changed its name to Wesleyan Collegiate School before the end of the 19th Century. The name "Mfantsipim" was provided by the Honourable John Mensah-Sarbah, an accomplished lawyer and a member of the "Pioneer Boys". Mfantsipim, he insisted, was to be the "soul of the people".
The Rev W. T. Balmer came in 1907, at a time when all the European teaching staff had left for the United Kingdom with only eight dedicated boys left to fend for themselves; He called them the Faithful Eight.
The Rev R. A. Lockhart arrived in 1925 and laid a solid foundation for progress. Indeed, he was peerless in his time in terms of performance and achievement. He built classrooms and dormitories on Kwabotwe Hill and finally brought the school to the present site in 1931. He was also the main architect in bringing the Cambridge Overseas School Certificate Examination into the Gold Coast.
There have been many influential products of the school who have served not only the country and the continent of Africa but also other continents and many international bodies. Mfantsipim School has trained uncounted number of men of distinction. In the fields of medicine, engineering, education, architecture, and others, are found a number of prominent men who owe allegiance to Mfantsipim School.
Read more about this topic: Mfantsipim School
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