Accra Academy
The academy runs courses in business, general science, general arts, agricultural science and visual arts, leading to the award of a West African Senior School Certificate.
The academy's founders provided tuition to students who wanted a secondary-grade education but who did not have financial support to enable them do so. The first principal and co-founder, Kofi Konuah periodically travelled to some of the major towns in each region of the country to organize entrance examinations for students, so as to offer the brilliant but needy among them the opportunity of education in the Accra Academy. The academy no longer offers special admission to brilliant but needy students but, as per a 2005 general directive from the Ghana Education Service, admits its students through a school selection placement system.
Accra Academy was ranked 8th out of the top 100 high schools in Africa by Africa Almanac in 2003, based upon quality of education, student engagement, strength and activities of alumni, school profile, internet and news visibility. Amongst its achievements include; being the first school to have produced successive Chief Justices of Ghana, and the only school to have produced successive Ghanaian Speakers of Parliament. It is also the first school to have produced a head of government and a deputy head of government in the same Ghanaian government.
History
Accra Academy was founded by Messrs. Kofi George Konuah, Samuel Neils Awuletey, Gottfried Narku Alema and James Akwei Halm-Addo on 20 July 1931, at Mantse Agbonaa, a suburb of James Town in Accra.
The academy's founders operated the school from a one-storey house that provided classrooms for the students. The facility was named Ellen House after its leaser, Ellen Buckle. Ellen was the widow of Vidal J. Buckle, a lawyer and Gold Coast elite, who built the property. The academy began work with a student enrolment of 19, distributed into Forms 1 through to 3. The founders of the academy together with two others, M. F. Dei-Anang and S.S. Sackey, comprised the pioneer teaching staff of the school. The academy operated as a day-school till it began accommodating students in Claremont House in 1935, a single-storey building adjoining Ellen House, also a property leased out by Ellen Buckle.
In December 1932, the academy presented its first batch of ten students for the Junior Cambridge School Certificate Examination, seven out of whom passed the examination. By 1935, several privately operated secondary schools had been established in Kumasi, Koforidua, Sekondi, and Accra. While their overall quality didn't seem to be particularly high, Accra Academy stood out as a well-organized institution, boasting an enrollment of 469 students. In the annual report for the academic year 1938–39, Accra Academy received positive recognition. The report described it as a well-funded institution that is effectively administered, with a student body of 469 boys. In 1939, the academy presented 45 students for the Senior Cambridge School Certificate Examination, out of whom 42 students passed, with 10 students obtaining exemption from the London Matriculation Examination.
By the year 1945, the academy had established itself as a stable institution and had achieved a level of effectiveness that set it apart from other secondary schools that did not receive assistance from the Government. As of the start of 1946, there were 467 male students attending the school.
In 1947, a recommendation was made to the director of education to grant the academy the status of a Government Assisted School. The recommendation was approved, and the academy begun operating as a Government Assisted school from 1 January 1950.
Due to a steady increase in the number of applicants applying for enrolment in the academy, the academy's administrators began preparations to relocate the academy to a larger and permanent site. The initial site acquired to relocate the school was situated at Kokomlemle; however, this site had to be abandoned as a result of a prolonged litigation concerning the ownership of the land. A second site, which was located at Korle Gonno, was also given up because of its remote location. The search for a new school site ended in 1956 when J. A. Halm-Addo succeeded in lobbying the Convention People's Party government to relocate and expand the academy as part of its accelerated development plan. Owing to his efforts, Accra Academy was offered a 37-acre plot of land at Bubuashie, off the Winneba Road.
Barnes, Hubbard & Arundel's local office in Accra were the architects for the school's first buildings at Bubuashie. J. Monta & Sons was awarded the contract to develop the new school site in October 1959, and by July 1961, presented the newly developed site with new buildings to the school administrators. In September 1961, the academy relocated from Ellen House to the present site at Bubuashie. A ceremony to officially open up the new buildings was held on 3 February 1962 and A. J. Dowuona-Hammond, Minister for Education and incidentally an old student, unveiled a commemorative plaque.
The first dormitory block to serve as a residential facility for students was completed later in 1966.
The academy acquired the nickname Little Legon shortly after the new school site was commissioned, when some students from the Western Region who had gained admission into the University of Ghana, reported at the academy instead of the University of Ghana, apparently confused by the close similarity between the infrastructure of both educational institutions.
In 1981, the academy celebrated its golden jubilee with a student enrolment of 900 and a teaching staff of 52. Historian Robert Addo-Fening, as part of celebrations, of the golden jubilee documented the early history of the Accra Academy for publishing as a Golden Jubilee Brochure. This source was to serve as an important reference point for the first history book on the school published in 2022 titled Accra Aca Bleoo: The History of the Accra Academy from Jamestown to Bubuashie authored by Simon Ontoyin, an alumnus.
Overview
Insignia
Object | Significance |
---|---|
Lion | King of Beasts. Represents the Lion of Justice exemplifying poise and controlled power. |
Sun | Represents the brilliance of knowledge, banishing ignorance and superstition. |
Three chains | The union of three chains stands for the Pauline virtues of Faith, Hope and Love. |
Palm tree | The palm tree thrives where other trees can hardly stand. Here it represents triumph over environmental handicaps. |
Cocoa tree | Symbol of Ghana's wealth. Here it symbolizes the proper use of wealth to sweeten the cares of life. |
Esse Quam Videri | written in Latin, translates as "To be, rather than to seem" |
Governance
Headmaster | Tenure of office |
---|---|
K. G. Konuah, C.B.E, G.M | 1931 to 1952 |
A. K. Konuah | 1953 to 1967 |
J. K. Okine | 1967 to 1986 |
Vincent Birch Freeman | 1986 to 1996 |
Beatrice Lokko | 1997 to 2005 |
Samuel Ofori-Adjei | 2005 to 2017 |
William Foli Garr | 2017 to 2020 |
Emmanuel Ofoe Fiemawhle | 2020 to date |
Academics
Admission
Being a senior high school for boys, the academy offers admission to boys only. Gaining entry into the academy is competitive, and open to students who have completed Junior high school. Prior to writing their Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), final year Junior High School students, register for senior high school through a computerized school selection and placement system (CSSPS) which was introduced by the Ghana Education Service in 2005.
Unlike in the previous grading system in which a candidate's overall academic performance in the Basic Education Certificate Examination was obtained by computing the aggregate on the candidate's best six subject scores, the raw scores obtained by a candidate in the Basic Education Certificate Examination determines the candidates overall academic performance in the exam under the computerized school selection and placement system. Because the computerized school selection and placement system uses a deferred-acceptance algorithm which ensures that Junior high school applicants are admitted strictly based on academic merit, administrators of the academy use raw scores obtained in the Basic Education Certificate Examination to admit applicants from Junior High School.
Curriculum
The programmes run in the academy are: general arts, general science, agriculture, business and visual arts. As part of their computerized school selection and placement system registration, final year junior high school applicants select four elective courses. Unlike elective courses, core courses are offered to all students, irrespective of their programme of study. The academy's core courses are: English language, core mathematics, social studies, integrated science, ICT (core) and physical education, however, students are only examined both internally and externally as well, in the first five aforementioned courses.
The academy's curriculum like that of other senior high schools in Ghana, operates in a three-year academic cycle, from form one to form three. The beginning of the first academic year marks the enrolment of the student in the academy, while the ending of the third academic year marks the graduation of the student.
Academic performance
The academy maintains a high academic standard and has over the years been ranked among the best performing senior high schools in Ghana. In 2009, the academy was listed among six other schools in the Greater Accra Region, which had 60% or more of its candidates qualifying for tertiary education. In a survey, the academy was listed among secondary schools in Ghana that contribute 50% or more of its students to universities.
In 2012, a former student was adjudged by WAEC as the best candidate in Business at the previous year WASSCE. In 2017, a former student was adjudged as the second overall best candidate and the second best candidate in General Science for the previous year WASSCE in Ghana.
In 2018, 676 students of the school sat the WASSCE. 640 students of this number passed in all 8 courses taken (i.e. obtained grades between A1 to C6). This represented a percentage pass of 94.7% and percentage of students of qualified academic enrolment status into a university programme in Ghana. In 2020, 672 students of the school sat the WASSCE. 633 students of this number had passes in 6 courses (i.e. 4 core courses and 2 elective courses). This represented a percentage pass of 94.2% in relation to passes in 6 courses.