Adisadel College
Adisadel College, popularly known as "ADISCO", is an Anglican boys' boarding school in Cape Coast, Ghana.
Adisadel College | |
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School Crest | |
Address | |
P. O. Box 83 Adisadel Village Central Region , Central Region , P.O. Box 83, 00233 Cape Coast Ghana | |
Coordinates | 5.1206°N 1.2649°W |
Information | |
School type | Missionary funding, Public High School All Boys School |
Motto | Vel Primus Vel Cum Primis (Either the first or with the first) |
Religious affiliation(s) | Christianity |
Denomination | Anglican |
Patron saint(s) | St. Nicholas |
Established | 1910 |
Founder | Nathaniel Temple Hamlyn |
Headmaster | Francis Agbedenu (Alaska) |
Staff | 98 teachers |
Faculty | 4 |
Gender | Boys |
Age | 14 to 20 |
Enrolment | c. 1500 |
• Grade 11 | accepted |
Average class size | 46 |
Language | English |
Campus | 2: Leopoldville & Katanga |
Houses | 10 |
Colour(s) | Black and White |
Slogan | Play Up Santaclausians!! |
Song | Adisadel On the Hill! |
Mascot | Zebra |
Nickname | ADISCO |
Rival | Mfantsipim School |
Newspaper | Owl |
Affiliation | Anglican Church, Ghana |
Alumni | AOBA |
Website | http://www.adisadelcollege.net |
Adisadel College was ranked 10th out of the top 100 best high schools in Africa by Africa Almanac in 2003, based on quality of education, student engagement, strength and activities of alumni, school profile, internet and news visibility.[1]
History
Adisadel was established in 1910 in a building at Topp Yard, near Christ Church School which is within the vicinity of Cape Coast Castle. It began with 29 boys, but by 1935, it had expanded to accommodate about 200 pupils. The school buildings were extended in 1950 by Maxwell Fry and Jane Drew.[2] Student enrolment stood at 545, at the time of the school's Golden Jubilee in 1960. There were over 1500 boarding students and 93 teachers when the school celebrated its centenary anniversary in 2010.
The school's original founder was the Rt. Rev. Nathaniel Temple Hamlyn, a missionary who was then Anglican Bishop of Accra between 1908 and 1910. Hamlyn's ambition was to establish a grammar school to educate the sons of Anglicans in the colony, and also create an educational institution which will serve as a training ground for the clergy.
Adisadel College is the second-oldest secondary school in Ghana after Mfantsipim School, an arch rival which was established by the Methodist Church in 1876. Adisco is also one of the most famous institutions of learning in sub-Saharan Africa.[3]
Uniform
The school uniform is black and white striped shirt and black shorts, which directly reflects the primary colours of the college. The distinctive colour combination is colloquially referred to as "zebra", due to its semblance to the stripes of that animal species. Unsurprisingly, the distinctive outfit has earned Adisco students the nickname of "zebra boys". Prior to the introduction of this style of uniform in the 1990s, students of the old Form One to Form Five stream wore blue shirts and brown khaki shorts, whiles those in Sixth Form wore white shirts and brown shorts. Adisadel College was the first secondary school in the history of Ghana to design special cloaks for its prefects: red for the head prefect, blue for the other prefects, and green for the assistants.[3] That tradition still persists till this day.
Headmasters of Adisadel College
Name | From | To |
---|---|---|
G. B. Brown BA | 1910 | 1910 |
B. P. Haines MA | 1910 | 1910 |
G. B. Brown BA | 1910 | 1912 |
Hugh Hare MA(Oxon) | 1913 | 1914 |
R. Fisher MA(Cantab) | 1914 | 1918 |
W. Hutton Mensah | 1918 | 1924 |
S. R. S. Nicholas MA DTh(Durham) | 1924 | 1929 |
A. J. Knight MA LLB(Cantab) | 1929 | 1937 |
R. D. Hudson MA(Oxon) | 1938 | 1940 |
W. G. Harward MA(Oxon) | 1947 | 1952 |
A. R. H. Dee MA(Sydney) | 1954 | 1955 |
L. W. Fry MA BSc(Oxon) | 1956 | 1958 |
T. J. Drury MA(Cantab) | 1959 | 1963 |
R. T. Orleans-Pobee BA(Lond) MEd(Springfield) | 1963 | 1974 |
E. A. Jonah BA(Legon) | 1974 | 1982 |
R. K. Ayitey BA(Ed.) | 1982 | 1991 |
J. F. K. Appiah-Cobbold BA PGC. | 1991 | 1995 |
J. E. C. Kitson BA PGCE) | 1995 | 2004 |
H. K. K. Graham BSc(Hons) PGCE | 2005 | 2014 |
William Kusi Yeboah | 2014 | 2019 |
Francis Kwame Agbedanu | 2019 | Present |
Publications
- Adisadel On The Hill: The History (1910–2010) - by John Samuel Pobee, Vicar General of the Anglican Diocese of Accra. This book was published and launched in March 2010 to coincide with the school's centenary anniversary.
- The Owl is a monthly newsletter for students and alumni of Adisadel College.[7]
- Reminiscences of Adisadel - A short historical sketch of ADISADEL COLLEGE published in 1980, by G. McLean Amissah.
Publication: Reminiscences Of Adisadel College 1970-1975 Editors: Dr Paul Mensah; Dr Kwesi Bentum Date: 2017 ISBN 978-9988-2-7402-3 Publisher: Buck Press Ltd, Accra, Ghana.
Notable alumni
Academia
- William Emmanuel Abraham, philosopher
- John S. Pobee, Ghanaian Theologian
- Kwasi Wiredu, philosopher
Arts and entertainment
- Kofi Antubam, Ghanaian artist
- Terry Bonchaka, Hip life artist
- Ian Jazzi, Actor and musician
- Koo Nimo -born Kwabena Boa-Amponsem, aka Daniel Amponsah, a Ghanaian folklorist and recording artist
- Frank Kobina Parkes, poet
- Shatta Rakon Musician
- Captain James Hackman Tachie-Menson, First black African ship's captain & first African south of the Sahara to man a ship across the Atlantic Ocean; musician and composer of “Where is Our God?”, “Leonora”, “New Born Prince of Peace” and preferred Ghanaian tune to “Hark, Hark, my Soul”.
- George Brigars Williams, former Ghanaian actor.
Corporate, business, and finance
- Prince Kofi Amoabeng, Businessman and co-founder of defunct UT Bank
- Sam E. Jonah KBE, Executive Chairman of Jonah Capital; previously President of AngloGold Ashanti
- Nana Appiah Mensah (aka NAM1), Ponzi Scheme Artist and Chief Executive Officer of MenzGold Dealership
- W. Paatii Ofosu-Amaah, Vice President and Corporate Secretary of the World Bank Group, 2003 to 2007. Special Advisor to the President of the African Development Bank, 2008 to 2015.
- Ernest Bediako Sampong, Pharmacist and businessman; CEO of Ernest Chemist Limited
Clergy
- Robert Okine, former Archbishop of West Africa
Law and law enforcement
- Chief Justice George Kingsley Acquah,[8]
- Chief Justice Philip Edward Archer
- L.J. Chinery-Hesse, parliamentary draftsman, Solicitor-General and Acting Attorney General (1979)
- Justice Charles Hayfron-Benjamin, Justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana (1993 – 1999)
- Justice Robert John Hayfron-Benjamin, Chief Justice of Botswana (1977 – 1981)
- A. K. P. Kludze, Justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana (2003 – 2004)
- Koi Larbi, Justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana (1970 – 1972)[9]
- E. R. T. Madjitey, first Ghanaian commissioner of police and a former politician
- Henry K. Prempeh, Justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana (1971 – 1972)
- Chief Justice Edward Kwame Wiredu
Monarchs
- Opoku Ware II, 15th Emperor-King of the Ashanti people and Ashanti.
Politics, government, and public policy
- Thomas Kwame Aboagye - Politician, Deputy minister in the second republic
- Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, Chairman of the Electoral Commission of Ghana from 1993 to 2015.
- Kennedy Agyapong - Member of Parliament
- Brigadier Akwasi Afrifa, head of state of Ghana and leader of the military government in 1969
- Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi, former Minister for Education in the Kufuor government
- John Peter Amewu, Minister for Lands and Natural Resources
- Akenten Appiah-Menka - Politician, Deputy minister in the second republic
- James Appietu-Ankrah, Member of parliament for the Lower West Akim constituency (2005–2009)
- George Aryee, Director General of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (1991–1992)
- Edward Asafu-Adjaye, diplomat
- Frank Bernasko, former minister of state in the NRC and SMC regime, founder and leader of the erstwhile Action Congress Party.
- Freddie Blay - lawyer, Former Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana and Chairman of the New Patriotic Party
- Kojo Botsio, minister of state in the first republic
- B. J. Da Rocha, first chairman of the New Patriotic Party
- Joseph Ampah Kojo Essel, member of parliament for the Dompim constituency (1965 – 1966)
- Joseph W. de Graft-Johnson, first Head Prefect and first Secretary General of the UGCC. Statesman and nationalist of the Gold Coast era and patriarch of the deGraft-Johnson family
- Robert K. A. Gardiner, diplomat
- Komla Agbeli Gbedemah, Minister of state in the first republic, founder and leader of the National Alliance of Liberals
- Jacob Hackenburg Griffiths-Randolph, a judge and also the Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana during the Third Republic
- Joseph Essilfie Hagan, Minister of state in the first republic of Cape Coast.
- F. A. Jantuah, Minister of state in the first republic and in the PNDC regime
- Kofi Koranteng, Politician and businessman; Independent Presidential Candidate
- Alan John Kyerematen, Ghanaian politician and former diplomat
- Joseph Yaw Manu, Politician, Deputy minister in the second republic
- Andrew Egyapa Mercer, MP
- James Mercer, Former diplomat
- Edward Nathaniel Moore, former attorney general of Ghana (SMC regime).
- Kwamena Minta Nyarku, Member of parliament for the Cape Coast North constituency (2021–)
- Fritz Kwabena Poku, diplomat[10]
- Samuel Ernest Quarm, Diplomat
- Ebenezer Sekyi-Hughes, Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana
- Kojo Yankah, former minister of state.
Science and technology
- Louis Casely-Hayford, Engineer, former Chief Executive Officer of the Volta River Authority
- William Frank Kobina Coleman, Engineer, Director General of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (1960–1970)
- Ave Kludze, a Rocket Scientist, Senior NASA Engineer and first African to fly (command and control) a spacecraft in orbit including the ERBS and TRMM spacecraft for NASA.
- Ebenezer Laing, Ghanaian botanist
- Thomas Mensah - scientist whose single-handed work was most important in making fibre optic technology commercial.
- Nii Quaynor, Network Computer Systems
Sports
- Samuel Appiah, footballer
- Ibrahim Ayew, footballer
- Baffour Gyan, retired footballer
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Adisadel College. |
References
- "top20highschools". Africa Almanac. Africa Almanac. 1 October 2003. Archived from the original on 14 January 2007. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
The research leading up to the publication of the 100 Best High Schools in Africa began with the launching of the website in December 2000.
- Holl, Jessica (4 February 2013). "Fry and Drew: From the Archives". Archived from the original on 10 March 2014.
- "Adisadel Historical Sketch". adisadelonline. Archived from the original on 3 July 2008. Retrieved 19 February 2008.
- "Adisadel College Past Headmasters". adisadelcollege.net.
- "Adisadel headmaster takes home four vehicles as retirement package; PTA fumes". myjoyonline. 23 January 2014.
- Severious Kale-Dery (1 March 2019). "Adisadel College Headmaster relieved of position". graphic.com.gh.
- "Owl on the web". adisadelonline. Archived from the original on 29 January 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
- "List of Chief Justices". Official Website. Judicial Service of Ghana. Archived from the original on 13 February 2007. Retrieved 26 March 2007.
- "Achievements". www.adisadelonline.com. GhanaWeb. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
- "Fritz Kwabena Poku (Ambassador of Ghana to the United States )". Ghana Web. Retrieved 1 May 2019.