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Kumasi as we all know is the capital city of the Ashanti Region. Ashanti being in the southern part of Ghana. It may also surprise you to know that Kumasi has also been known as the center for Ashanti culture.
In this post I will like to tell you a bit about Kumasi, some fact and features before later focusing on the top secondary schools we can find in this city.
Kumasi usually spelled Kumase in is among the largest metropolitan areas in Ghana aside Accra. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region near Lake Bosomtwe, and is the commercial, industrial and cultural capital of the historical Ashanti Empire.
Kumasi is approximately 500 kilometres (300 mi) north of the Equator and 200 kilometres (100 mi) north of the Gulf of Guinea. Because of its many species of flowers and plants in the past, Kumasi is alternatively known as “The Garden City”. By the indigents it is called Oseikrom which means Osei Tutu’s town.
Whether you know it or not, Kumasi is the second-largest city in Ghana, after the capital, Accra.It has a Central Business District which include areas such as Adum, Bantama, Pampaso and Bompata (popularly called Roman Hill) and this are the areas where you will find banks, department stalls, and even hotels.
Talk of Economic activities such has financial and commercial sectors, pottery, clothing and textiles and you can find these in Kumasi. There is also a significant timber processing community serving the domestic market. With business and entertainment, you cannot forget Bantama High Street and Prempeh II Street both in Bantama and Adum.
Features of the city include Fort Kumasi which was built in 1896 to replace an Asante fort and now a museum and the Kumasi Hat Museum. Royal Asante attractions include the Kumasi National Cultural Centre, the Okomfo Anokye Sword, the Asantehene‘s Palace and the Manhyia Palace, dating from 1925, now a museum.
With this background, let us now turn our attention to some of the top secondary schools in Kumasi.
Prempeh College is located in Kumasi as a public secondary boarding school for boys in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. In 1949, the Asanteman traditional authority, the British Colonial Government, the Methodist Church Ghana and the Presbyterian Church of Ghana came together and founded this school.
Prempeh College is named after the Asantehene , Sir Osei Tutu Agyeman Prempeh II, who was the then King of the Ashanti’s. It was him who donated the land on which the school was built and was modeled after the Eton College in England.
In 2004 Prempeh College topped the matriculation at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology with many students from the school admitted. The College is considered to be one of the best secondary schools in the country.
Between 2013 and 2021, Prempeh College won the National Robotics Championships a record five times and in 2016 it won the Toyota Innovation Award at the International Robofest World Championships held in Michigan, USA. Click here to learn more about Prempeh College
Opoku Ware School is often referred to as OWASS and it is a public Catholic senior high school for boys, located in Santasi, a suburb of Kumasi, the capital of the Ashanti region of Ghana.
Opoku Ware School was established in 1952 as all-boys Catholic boarding school in Kumasi. The school was named after Asante King Opoku Ware I. The alumni are known collectively as Akatakyie which is an Asante word meaning “conquering heroes”.
The patron saint of the school is Saint Thomas Aquinas. The motto of the school is “Deus Lux Scientiae”, meaning “God is the Light of Knowledge”.
Until the school was built, there was no government secondary school in the Ashanti Region, and youths had to travel south across the Pra River in order to attend secondary schools. This meant that members of the Catholic Church who wished to have their children educated in accordance with Catholic traditions had to send them to St. Augustine’s College or Holy Child College, both in Cape Coast.
In January 31, 1951, there was a meeting held and decision was taken to build a Roman Catholic Mission secondary school in the Ashanti Region. The government was to provide all the funds for the building of the school. The school was meant for 360 students with a possible expansion to the Sixth Form. It was to be developed according to a ten-year development plan, and the final cost was estimated at £250,000.
An expatriate construction firm, Fry, Drew and Company, was awarded the contract to build classrooms, dormitories, laboratories, and administration block and staff bungalows.
The first batch of 60 students arrived at the school, originally called Yaa Asantewaa College but later changed to Opoku Ware School on February 22, 1952.
The first Headmaster was Rev. Fr. Peter Philip Burgess, and the first dormitory was St. Paul. The flat attached to the dormitory served as both the Headmaster’s residence and as an office.
By 1955, the school had six dormitories, ten classrooms, three science laboratories, an administration block, dining hall, kitchen, library, and 17 staff bungalows. There were 450 students attending the school.
A Sixth Form Department was started in 1958, to provide courses in both the arts and sciences. A Cadet Corps was formed in 1960.
OPOKU WARE SCHOOL has a number of sister school. Prominent among them is ST. LOUIS SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL. The two schools come together to form AKATASLOPSA, perhaps the best school alliance in Ghana. Click here to learn more about Opoku Ware School
3. St. Louis Secondary School
St. Louis Senior High School is a Ghanaian educational institution for girls in the Oduom suburb of Kumasi in the Ashanti Region.
Most Rev. Hubert Pailissen, SMA, in early 1949, said; “In this country, scarcely 15 percent of the school-going youth are girls. The people now begin to realize that more must be done in favour of this much–neglected part of the human race, and the chiefs, conscious of their duty towards their subjects, asked us to establish schools for girls in their respective villages….
But to obtain results, it is necessary that the direction of girls’ schools should be in the hands of ‘Sisters of a Teaching Order’ with the necessary experience in the latest development of pedagogic methods.”
Hence, on 18 October 1947, the first St. Louis Sisters arrived in the country. They were to continue the running of an already-established elementary school, the St. Bernadette School, now popularly called ‘Roman Girls’. True to character, the St. Louis Sisters, who never do things by the halves, decided to establish a new secondary school on the same compound.
In 1952, St. Louis Secondary was opened, with an initial group of 12 girls. Only some out of this group survived to join the second group of 1953 to make 42. By December 1957, when the surviving group wrote their “O” Level Examination, they numbered 11. Click here to learn more about St. Louis Secondary School.
Yaa Asantewaa Girls’ Senior High School (YAGSHS) was established in 1961 as part of the rapid educational expansion project pioneered by Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the first Ghanaian President after the independence of the country.
The school started in 1960 with seventy students.
The school was named after Yaa Asantewaa, the great historical revolutionary heroine and Queenmother of Ejisu, in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.
This short, smallish lady boldly led the Ashanti Kings in a war against the British colonialists in the year 1900.
For almost half a century, the school has turned out thousands of educated and well formed women who are in responsible positions in government, administration and business circles.
It had an initial population of seventy (70) girls and the first headmistress was Mrs Gloria Aryee.
The School capacity grew to 300 by the late 60s and approximately 500 in the 70s and kept growing over the past decades.
Since then the school has grown to its present size of about two thousand and four hundred (2,400) girls.
The School has had a succession of Head Mistresses. Much of the success and discipline can be attributed to Madam Tetteh, the third Headmistress (1962 – 1978) of the School.
Her foresight, strictness and commitment turned the girls to respectable and disciplined women to this day.
Her phrase “I’m teaching you girls to be good housewives” will forever go down to the School’s history.
However, in 1978, the students rebelled against her and demanded that the Schools’ priority should also be focused on first class education coupled with the discipline.
From its humble beginnings, the School has come a long way to take its rightful but long-overdue place, as one of the best institutions in Ghana.
The school has recorded consistently excellent results in the final exams and the good work will carry on for years to come.
Eventually the School achieved its Sixth Form status and has since continued its progression.
Over the years, the School has turned out thousands of educated and well-formed women holding responsible positions in governments, global organizations’, education, hospitals fields and business circles (as in doctors, lawyers, journalists, nurses, entrepreneurs, teachers, etc.).
As well as many in UK and of course excellent housewives, the famous phrase of Mrs Tetteh.
The School is expanding and no effort should be spared to continue the good work. Click here to learn more about Yaa Asantewaa Girls Senior High School.
5. Kumasi High School
Kumasi High School, often referred to as KUHIS, is a boys’ senior high school in the Ashanti region of Ghana. It was established in 1962, by S. K. Amoah. The students are known collectively as Mmerantee(Gentlemen).
Kumasi High School started as a private Secondary School in 1962. It started as Kwame Nkrumah Secondary School at Asuoyeboah, a suburb of Kumasi. It was established by one Mr.S.K.Amoah. In 1963 it was moved to occupy rented premises at Kwadaso.
The school was absorbed into the public system during the 1965/66 academic year, and Mr.Albert Appiah, a tutor at Prempeh college was appointed as the first Headmaster of the School.
The name of the school was changed to Kumasi High School soon after the 1966 Military Coup, which ousted President Nkrumah’s regime.
The school remained at Kwadaso until 1977 when it was moved to occupy its present site at Gyinyase under the headship of Mr.K.Amo-Asare, the third headmaster.
In 1978/79 school year the school was given permission to run Sixth Form courses in Business, Arts and Science. However, the Sixth Form Course has been phased out with the introduction of the New Educational Reforms.
The school now runs a three-year Senior Secondary School Programme in General Arts, General Science, Business, Visual Arts and General Agriculture. Click here to learn more about Kumasi High School.
6. T.I. Ahmadiyya Senior High School
T. I. Ahmadiyya Secondary School has grown from small beginnings to become one of the most respected Senior High Schools not only in Kumasi but in the Ashanti Region and indeed Ghana.
The Schools has contributed greatly to the intellectual, moral and spiritual development of both Ghanaians and non Ghanaians and is today justifiably proud to be the alma Mater of hundreds of alumni who are making significant contributions to the development of Ghana.
T. I. Ahmadiyya Senior High School, Kumasi was established by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission, Ghana on 30th January, 1950. The first Headmaster of the School was Dr. S. B. Ahmad, an expatriate, who started the school with twenty-five students and seven teachers.
Initially, the School made use of two classrooms belonging to the Ahmadiyya Primary School at Asafo in Kumasi.
In 1953, the School was moved to its present location by the Ahmadiyya Mission.
The land for the present site was donated by Otumfuo Sir Osei Agyemang Prempeh II, the then Asantehene.
The Asantehene also graciously and generously donated an amount of one hundred British pounds towards the construction of the first building. This is a clear indication that our honourable chiefs, since time past, have assisted greatly in the development and spread of education.
In 1956, the School which was run as a private institution by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission was absorbed into the public educational system and hence became a Government assisted school.
The School presented its first batch of candidates for the General Certificate Examination (G.C.E.) O’level examination in 1954 and recorded 100% passes.
Since then, the forward match of the School in the academic and other fields began and has continued to this day. Click here to learn more about T.I. Ahmadiyya Senior High School.
7. Anglican Senior High School
The Anglican Senior High School, Kumasi, is a co-educational public high school situated in Asem, which is a suburb of Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.
Back in the early 1920s, the English Church Mission acquired a site from the Amakom chief with the intention of establishing an institution to train clergy, and facilitate the growth of the church in the then Gold Coast.
Bishop M. S. O’Rocke secured the services of the monks of the Benedictine Order (O.S.B.) from Nashdom Abbey, England, to run the newly founded institution, and in 1952, St. Augustine’s Theological College was established.
In 1972 when the second Republic (under Prime Minister Dr. K. A. Busia) was overthrown by Colonel I. K. Acheampong, the new government decided that numerous training colleges would be converted into secondary schools or closed. Anglican Training College was listed as one of those to close. The staff, supported by their principal Fr Aggrey, signed a petition asking the government not to close the college, but to convert it into a secondary school to be called Anglican Secondary School, Kumasi. The petition which was sent via the bishop, Rt. Rev. J. B. Arthur, who in turn wrote a covering letter approving of the petition. Both letters were forwarded to the then secretary of Education, Colonel Nkegbe in Accra.
The petition was granted and in September 1973 Anglican Training College became Anglican Secondary School. It was a co-educational school but in 1987 stopped accepting girls as boarders. Fr P.D. Aggrey who was principal of the training college was retained as headmaster of the secondary school.
He administered the school from 1973 to 1981 when he retired and was succeeded by Mr. John Poku between 1981 and 1986. In 1987. Mr. A. E. Kyere (a.k.a. Kontonkyi) assumed duty as the third headmaster of the school and it was under him that the school improved academically.
In 1999, the school was for the first time, invited to take part in the National Science and Maths Quiz Competitions and Rev’d Canon E.Y. Brobe-Mensah, assumed headship of the school there after. Click here to learn more about Anglican Senior High School.
Kumasi Academy is also known as KUMACA and is a public senior high school located in Asokore-Mampong, in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Asokore-Mampong is the capital of the Asokore Mampong Municipal Assembly and about 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) from the central business district of Kumasi off the Kumasi Airport-Aboabo Road.
Initially, the school was called Sadler Baptist School but in 1960, the seminary part was moved from Asokore-Mampong to Abuakwa, leaving only the secondary school at its present location, Asokore-Mampong.
Poe was later succeeded by Madam Nadine Lovan, another white missionary, as the head of the Sadler Baptist School. The school has since become one of the most popular schools in Ghana because of the Baptist missionaries’ strict adherence to discipline.
Later, the then government wanted to have a say in the administration and running of the school. The Baptist Mission was not the type that would take kindly to that policy and was not prepared to acquiesce in this interference since it believed in the complete separation between religion and government.
In circumstances, the Mission found it more expedient to leave the scene and handed over the school to the government on two conditions, that the name “Sadler Baptist” be changed and that the teaching of religion in the school should be in the hands of the Baptist Mission. The government accepted this offer and “Sadler Baptist Secondary School” was eventually Changed to Kumasi Academy.
On Saturday, 9th July, 2022, the ultramodern Akunini Science Laboratory was commissioned in the school to enhance STEM education. It is a legacy project that was fully funded by the alumni association known as Akunini Global. Click here to learn more about Kumasi Academy.
9. KNUST Senior High School
The KNUST Senior High School is a co-educational institution in Kumasi nickname Mmadwemma which in Akan language means “people who carefully think before acting”.
The schools motto is “Forward be our watchword“. Approximately 600 students graduate each year.
The school is a coeducational school, with an enrollment of about 900 boys and 1010 girls, a staff strength of 66 teachers and 21 non-teaching staff as at 2015.
KNUST Senior High School offers high school education and it is within the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana. It was established in February 1961 by the then-vice chancellor of the University of Science and Technology, Dr. R.P. Baffour.
The school being housed in prefabricated asbestos buildings thus started as the “Baby” of the University, that is, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in humble circumstances.
From the onset, it was financed and staffed by the University. It was, however, hoped that the School would eventually move into permanent buildings on the University campus, and become a boarding institution.
From its foundation up to June 1967, the School retained the University Secondary Technical School. Later on the Technical course was abandoned because of lack of staff and facilities. It has since been known and called Technology Secondary School.
The school was originally set up to give secondary school education to the children of the university staff. The school later opened up admission to the general public. KNUST Senior High School is a Class A Institution according to the West African Examination Council and the Ghana Education Service. Click here to learn more about KNUST Senior High School.
Osei Kyeretwie Senior High School is a coed boarding school in Kumasi, Ashanti Region, Ghana.
Osei Kyeretwie Senior High school also known as OKESS was established in July 1937 as the first secondary school in the Asante region. The school, formerly known as Asante Collegiate started as a private educational institution with just a handful of all boys’ students by the late Rev. J.T. Robert.
After many years of private management, the school was taken over by the ministry ofeducation in September, 1958; relocated it to Dichemso in September 1968; and renamed as Osei Kyeretwie after Nana Sir Osei Ageyman Prempeh II, Otomfuo, the Asantehene who was known in private life as Obarima Osei Kyeretwie.
In 1970, the current Tafo site of about 168-acre land was allocated to enable the school build permanent campus; the school has through 34 years operated from both the Dichemso and Tafo campuses.
Following persistent pressures to move, the government eventually agreed and moved the whole school to the new site at Tafo in 2004. The philosophy or motto of the school is ‘’service to God and humanity”. Products of the school are affectionately called ‘’AHENEMAA’’…princes and princesses. Click here to learn more about Osei Kyeretwie Secondary School.
Asanteman Senior High School is often known as Asass and is a co-educational second-cycle institution in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.
The school is regarded as the official school of the Ashanti Empire, with the Asantehene being the patron of the school.
Students are known as “Nananom” an Asante word meaning “Kings and Queens”. Due to its affiliations to the Ashanti Kingdom, the school holds cultural and traditional practices in the highest esteem. The school has prided itself as grooming grounds of kings and queens, where students are edified on the cultures of the Ashanti kingdom. Which is why upon completion, students assume the title “Nana” which means a King or a Queen.
The school is graded a category A school according to the Ghana Education Service rankings.
Over the last 17 years, the school has seen great improvement in academics and extra-curricular activities such as sports. The 2014 wassce results graded the school as the 4th best secondary school in Ashanti region.
The school has over the last ten years been ranked between 16 and 22 among about 138 schools in the Ashanti Region for the annual West African Senior High School Certificate Examinations. Most of the entire student’s population advances to tertiary institutions every year. Almost 70 percent of this figure going to the University of Cape Coast.
The school was the fourth school to be established in the Ashanti Region and it was established in 1954. Click here to learn more about Asanteman Secondary School.
The school, until recently known as Kumasi Secondary Technical school, was established as a co-educational institution in 1991. It is one of the hundred and forty six Senior Secondary Schools that were opened throughout the country during the introduction of the educational reform programme.
The school runs programs in Technical that is Auto Mechanics, Building Construction, Metal works, Applied Electricity and Wood work, Home Economics, Business, Science, General Arts and Visual Arts.
The school has an enabling environment to facilitate effective, efficient teaching and learning, and also ensure that parents and guardians provide material needed for their wards. Click here to learn more about Kumasi Senior High Technical school.
Ideal College Senior High School is a coeducational second-cycle private institution with it Kumasi campus located at Boadi.
The aim of the school is to make sure students do their best to obtain good grades for that is the joy of every student who obtains training. The school puts in efficient and effective tuition and learning mechanisms to ensure quality education.
Ideal College Senior High School started with 50 students and 6 teachers but currently has over one thousand students and well trained, hardworking and motivated teachers who take the students through the best tuitions to prepare them for their final examination under the Ghana Education Service.
Ideal College Senior High School also has foreign students from neighboring West African countries such as La Cote D?Ivoire, Togo and Nigeria and is among the best when it comes to remedials in Ghana. Click here to learn more about Ideal College Senior High School.
Bantama Adventist Senior High School is among the publicly recognized Senior High Schools in Ghana. As the name implies, It is located at Bantama, a surburb of Kumasi Metroplitan Assembly.
The school was founded based upon the Adventist Philosophy of Education which lays emphasis on the provision of a true and balanced form of education that involves the physical, emotional, moral and spiritual well-being of the individual. To sum it up, the Adventists philosophy of education believes in the training of the Head, the Heart and the Hand.
The school was established to give holistic education to the youth of Ghana as enshrined in the church’s philosophy of education and this has been the focus since its establishment. In the end, the school wishes to inculcate in the youth of Ghana the dignity of labour which is obtained through formal education and to equip them with skills needed to enter the job market and to fit them into the world to come, Heaven.
The schools motto is Truth, Dedication and Service
Before, Adventist Senior High School was known as Adventist Day Secondary School and it was founded by the S.D.A churches in Kumasi in 1983 with 80 students grouped into two classes.
It operated as a private mission school until 1994 when it was absorbed into the public school system. In 2003, the boys dormitory was put up to meet the needs of those boys who wanted to live in the school.
This called for the deletion of the word ‘day’ from the name of the school to reflect it new status. There are plans afoot for the construction of a girl’s dormitory as well. The school offer courses in the following programs. General Science, General Arts, Visual Arts, Business Studies and Home Economics Click here to learn more about Adventist Senior High School.
“Pentecost Senior High, a Category C school, Kumasi is a Christian institution established in 2000 to offer Excellent, Hollistic Secondary education, backed by sound Christian education to the youth of this nation (Ghana) and beyond with qualified and committed staff.
The motto of Pentecost Senior High School is Godliness, Knowledge and Service
The Pentecost Senior High School has a beautiful entrance and consist of Four houses and each house is independent which makes the student very competitive. Click here to learn more about Pentecost Secondary School.
Kumasi Girls is located at Abrepo, a suburb of Kumasi in the Ashanti region of Ghana. The school is adjacent to the County hospital.
The school was started as a private secondary school for girls by Caxton Williams, a Sierra Leonean in 1953.
Kumasi Girls’ Senior High School also known as KUGISS was first situated at Susanso, near Bomso Junction on the Kumasi-Accra road. In the early 1960s, the proprietor moved the school to Old Tafo where it remained in rented premises until 1992.
The school was then moved to its present and permanent site at Abrepo and by 1963 the government took over the administration.
Over the years, the school has achieved lots of academic laurels in WASSCE examinations and various academic competitions. Click here to learn more about Kumasi Girls Secondary School.
Conclusion
Kumasi is the capital city of the Ashanti Region and is located in the southern part of Ghana. It’s known as a center for Ashanti culture with stalls selling everything from glass beads to Ashanti sandals. The National Cultural Centre also offers craft workshops and dance performances. You’ll also find the Prempeh II Jubilee Museum, which displays jewelry and ceremonial clothing belonging to the 20th-century Ashanti king.
Another important place in Kumasi to visit is the Manhyia Palace, the seat of the King of Ashanti and members of the royal family situated in the northern part of the city. The Palace has a courtyard and a courtroom where matters dealing with the constitution and customs are deliberated upon the traditional council. Visitors can get a good insight into traditional African democracy, which is still very present in the customs of the people when they visit the courtyard. The meetings are open to the public.
Lake Bosumtwi, the largest natural lake in Ghana, is about 32 kilometres southeast of Kumasi. The Ashantis believe that the souls of their dead come to the lake to say goodbye to god called Twi. One theory says that the huge meteorite formed the lake. Another says that it is the crater of an extinct volcano.
Kumasi is still the heart of Ashanti country and the site of West Africa’s largest cultural center, the palace of the Ashanti king. To add to the appeal, it’s surrounded by rolling green hills and has a vast central market as vibrant as any in Africa.
