Address
Aboom Wells Rd
Phone
+233 5121341
Mfantsipim School is a high school in Cape Coast, in Ghana. It was established by the Methodist Church in 1876 as an all-boys secondary school dedicated to fostering intellectual, moral and spiritual growth. Its foundation name was Wesleyan High School and the first Headmaster was James Picot, a French scholar, who was only eighteen years old on his appointment.
History
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".
Several heads served the school with distinction. The Reverend W. T. Balmer came in 1907 and could be considered as a 'stabiliser'. He met only eight dedicated boys in Mfantsipim with neither a teacher nor a Headmaster, the then headmaster having left for the United Kingdom. He called them the 'faithful eight'. A monument has been erected between the Administration Block and the Assembly Hall to perpetuate their memory.
The Reverend R.A. Lockhart arrived in 1925 and laid a solid foundation for progress. He built claassrooms 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 School Leaving Certificate Examination into the Gold Coast, now Ghana. Dr. F.L. Bartels built on the foundation of the former heads. His main period as a head stretched from 1949 to 1961.
There have been many influential products of the school who have served, not only the country, the continent of Africa but also continents outside Africa and many international bodies. Mfantsipim School has trained uncounted number of men of distinction. In the field of Medicine, Engineering, Education, Architecture, etc, are found a number of prominent men who owe allegiance to Mfantsipim School.
Relics of Wesleyan High (Mfantsipim) at Mount Hope in Cape Coast, Ghana. 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 pressurised the Government to allow the school to begin functioning but on the understanding that it would later be moved to Accra, though no such move ever took place.
Mfantsipim was the first secondary school to be established in the Gold Coast and in 1931 it moved to its present location at Kwabotwe Hill in the northern part of the Town, at the top of Kotokuraba Road, Cape Coast. The school sometimes has been referred to as Kwabotwe for that reason.
It was deemed to be a Grammar School because Latin and Greek were taught but the school also offered carpentry, art and crafts and it has always been known as Mfantsipim School. It was an all boys boarding school although the intake included a small number of "day students", that is pupils who attended school from home. (Credit Kwesi Kay)
Several heads served the school with exemplary distinction. The Rev'd W. T. Balmer came in 1907 and could be considered as a 'stabiliser'. He met only eight dedicated boys in Mfantsipim with neither a teacher nor a headmaster, the then headmaster having left for the United Kingdom. He called them the Faithful Eight. A monument has been erected between the Administration Block and the Assembly Hall to perpetuate their memory. The Rev'd 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 School Leaving Certificate Examination into the Gold Coast, now Ghana.
Dr. F.L. Bartels built on the foundation of the former heads. His main period as a head stretched from 1949 to 1961. He scored unparalleled success during his time.
