Ghana's first school to be renovated

Renovation and expansion works have begun at Ghana’s first formal school in Cape Coast, the Philip Quaque Boys Basic School.

The Paramount Chief of Cape Coast, Osabarimba Kwesi Atta II and an old student of Philip Quaque Boys School, cut the sod for work to begin on the project and

the drawings of the facility have been handed over to Cardillac Company Limited, the contractors.

The works, being funded by the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund), now include work on the girls school counterpart, the Philip Quaque Girls School, also in Cape Coast.

At the 65th Independence Anniversary celebration in Cape Coast last year, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo announced that the government would undertake major rehabilitation works on the school.

The gesture, he indicated, was a gift to the people of the community as part of activities to celebrate Ghana’s Independence anniversary in 2022 in Cape Coast, adding that the historic relevance of the school was immense and it could not be allowed to deteriorate any further.

The school’s deplorable state was brought to the fore when the Central Regional Minister, Justina Marigold Assan, visited the school ahead of the Independence Day celebration in 2022.

Assan stated that the project was important for the President, and that he was committed to honouring his promise to restore the school to its former glory.

She said there would be effective supervision of the project to ensure it was completed on schedule.

The Paramount Chief of Cape Coast, Osabarimba Kwesi Atta II, a product of the school, lauded the government for rehabilitating the school.

He said the school represented the history of education in the country and had significant tourism potential, adding that it was heartwarming that the President was fulfilling the promise.

About 10 generations of Ghanaians and counting have been taught within the walls of the Philip Quaque Boys School.

The school carries the history of the nation’s education on its deteriorating pillars.

Its strength lies in its age, it has been there for 250 years but now its pillars seem to be losing the fight against the sea breeze and time.

The school has produced renowned men, including the former Speaker of Parliament, Ebenezer Begyina Sekyi Hughes, the former Chief of Staff under President Jerry John Rawlings’ administration, Nana Ato Dadzie.

The school, with the motto 'Nyansa ahyese nye nyamesuro', meaning the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, was the first to be established in West Africa.

But since its establishment in 1765, it has not seen any major renovation, leaving it in a dilapidated state.

Many of the residents in the metropolis feared the collapse of the facility would go with it a significant part of the country’s educational history.

The school, first established as the Castle school by its Founder, Reverend Philip Quaque, after whom it was named, was meant to educate the mulattos.