10 oldest Senior High Schools in Ghana

Ghana's secondary education system dates back more than a century, with some of the country's oldest senior high schools established during the colonial era.

From missionary schools in Cape Coast to early technical and private institutions in Accra, these schools have educated generations of Ghanaians.

Here are 10 of the oldest SHSs in Ghana, based on their documented establishment dates.

Mfantsipim School was established on April 3, 1876, by the Methodist Church in Cape Coast.

It began as the Wesleyan High School with 17 students and later went through several name changes before becoming Mfantsipim School.

The school is recognised as Ghana's first secondary school.

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Wesley Girls' High School in Cape Coast traces its origins to 1836, when Mrs Harriet Wrigley started a school for girls.

The school's secondary section was established in 1884 by Rev. W.M. Cannell, then headmaster of Mfantsipim School, with 20 girls.

The secondary and primary sections operated together for many years before the secondary division was eventually moved to its present site.

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Ghana Secondary Technical School (GSTS) was founded on August 9, 1909, in Accra as the Accra Technical School.

It initially offered three-year courses in woodwork and metalwork to train artisans for the Gold Coast's growing infrastructure needs.

The school moved to Takoradi in 1939 and later became Government Secondary Technical School before adopting the name Ghana Secondary Technical School.

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Adisadel College was founded on January 4, 1910, in Cape Coast by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel.

It was originally called the S.P.G. Grammar School and later became St Nicholas' Grammar School before taking the name Adisadel College.

The school identifies itself as the second-oldest secondary school in Ghana, after Mfantsipim.

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Accra High School was founded on August 17, 1923, by Rev. James Thomas Roberts.

The school began at Aayalolo in Accra with just eight students.

It is recognised by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly as the oldest secondary school in the Greater Accra Region.

O'Reilly Senior High School was established in August 1925 by Rev. Ezekiel Festus O'Reilly, a Sierra Leonean Anglican priest.

The institution was originally known as the O'Reilly Educational Institute and began at Korle Wokon in Accra.

The school officially opened on August 1, 1925.

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Achimota School was established in 1927 as the Prince of Wales College and School.

It was developed under the leadership of Governor Sir Frederick Gordon Guggisberg, Rev. Alec Garden Fraser and Dr James Kwegyir Aggrey.

The school became the Gold Coast's first mixed-gender secondary boarding institution and has since become one of Ghana's most historically significant schools.

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Krobo Girls' Senior High School was founded in March 1927 by Scottish missionaries.

The school began as a girls' middle school before a teacher-training college was later added. In 1973, the teacher-training college was converted into a girls' secondary school.

Despite those changes in its educational structure, 1927 remains the school's documented founding year.

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St. Augustine's College was established in 1930 at Amissano near Elmina as a Catholic institution.

The school later moved to Cape Coast, where it developed into one of Ghana's prominent boys' secondary schools.

The college's official website identifies 1930 as its establishment year.

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Accra Academy was founded on July 20, 1931, by Kofi George Konuah, Samuel Neils Awuletey, Gottfried Narku Alema and James Akwei Halm-Addo.

The school started at Ellen House in James Town with 19 students and became a government-assisted school in 1950.

It remains one of Ghana's oldest private-founded secondary schools.

These schools represent different stages in the development of secondary education in Ghana.

Mfantsipim and Wesley Girls' were established by the Methodist Church, while Adisadel was founded under the Anglican Church. GSTS was created to meet the Gold Coast's demand for technical education, while Accra High School, O'Reilly and Accra Academy emerged as private educational institutions.

Achimota and Krobo Girls' also have distinctive histories, but their 1927 founding dates place them among Ghana's oldest educational institutions.

Together, the schools span more than five decades of Ghana's educational history, from Mfantsipim's establishment in 1876 to Accra Academy's founding in 1931.