GES to begin facelift of Philip Quaque, first basic school in W/A …following President’s intervention
The Ghana Education Service has taken the necessary steps to rehabilitate the first basic school in West Africa, the Philip Quaque Basic School, to transform it into a modern school.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, at the 65th Independence Anniversary parade in Cape Coast on Sunday announced a facelift for the school.
The President said the rehabilitation which would be borne fully by the government, was his 65th independence anniversary gift to the good people of Cape Coast.
In line with this, the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Professor Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, has assured that said the service in collaboration with the Ministry of Education had commenced with the necessary consultations with the other stakeholders and work would begin soon.
Speaking to the Ghanaian Times via telephone in Accra yesterday, Prof. Opoku-Amankwa said the school which was the first basic school in West Africa, would be given the necessary facelift to reflect the status of Cape Coast as the citadel of education in the country.
He expressed the hope that the rehabilitation of the facility would receive the necessary support from the local folks to ensure successful delivery of the President’s promise.
The school which is the first basic school in the country is situated some distance from the Cape Coast Castle and serves as a reminder of the country’s colonial past and education development.
The Philip Quaque Boys School for centuries, had served as the centre for the promotion of education, but the foundation and structure of a once iconic facility continue to lose its essence.
The facility, which portrays the nation’s history in terms of education, had been inundated by the sea breeze which had affected the pillars and the structure as a whole.
Numerous appeals by the chiefs and residents of the area for the rehabilitation of the school for decades had proved futile.
Portions of the roof had been ripped off while number of the windows had broken down.
Philip Quaque was the first black Anglican priest and a beneficiary of the Castle School System, taught at the Cape Coast Castle where he inculcated in children Christian doctrines.
His teaching started after he had returned from overseas where he pursued his education.
The school was known as the Government Boys’ School when it was relocated from the Cape Coast Castle to its present location in 1765 but was renamed after Philip Quaque in September 1956 in recognition of his work.
By Cliff Ekuful & David O. Yarboi-Tetteh