The academy's founders provided tuition to students who wanted a secondary-grade education but who did not have financial support to enable them do so.[10][11] The first principal and co-founder, Kofi Konuah periodically travelled to some of the major towns in each region of the country to organize entrance examinations for students, so as to offer the brilliant but needy among them the opportunity of education in the Accra Academy.[12] The academy no longer offers special admission to brilliant but needy students but, as per a 2005 general directive from the Ghana Education Service, admits its students through a school selection placement system.[13]
Accra Academy was ranked 8th out of the top 100 high schools in Africa by Africa Almanac in 2003, based upon quality of education, student engagement, strength and activities of alumni, school profile, internet and news visibility.[14] Amongst its achievements include; being the first school to have produced successive Chief Justices of Ghana, and the only school to have produced successive Ghanaian Speakers of Parliament. It is also the first school to have produced a head of government and a deputy head of government in the same Ghanaian government.[15]
Accra Academy was founded by Messrs. Kofi George Konuah, Samuel Neils Awuletey, Gottfried Narku Alema and James Akwei Halm-Addo on July 20, 1931, at Mantse Agbonaa, a suburb of James Town in Accra.[16]
The academy's founders operated the school from a one-storey house that provided classrooms for the students. The facility was named Ellen House after its leaser, Ellen Buckle. Ellen was the widow of Vidal J. Buckle, a lawyer and Gold Coast elite, who built the property.[17] The academy began work with a student enrolment of 19, distributed into Forms 1 through to 3. The founders of the academy together with two others, M. F. Dei-Anang and S.S. Sackey, comprised the pioneer teaching staff of the school.[10] The academy operated as a day-school till it began accommodating students in Claremont House in 1935, a single-storey building adjoining Ellen House, also a property leased out by Ellen Buckle.[17]
In December 1932, the academy presented its first batch of ten students for the Junior Cambridge School Certificate Examination, seven out of whom passed the examination. By 1935, several privately operated secondary schools had been established in Kumasi, Koforidua, Sekondi, and Accra. While their overall quality didn't seem to be particularly high, Accra Academy stood out as a well-organized institution, boasting an enrollment of 469 students.[16] In the annual report for the academic year 1938-39, Accra Academy received positive recognition. The report described it as a well-funded institution that is effectively administered, with a student body of 469 boys.[18] In 1939, the academy presented 45 students for the Senior Cambridge School Certificate Examination, out of whom 42 students passed, with 10 students obtaining exemption from the London Matriculation Examination.[10][18]
By the year 1945, the Academy had established itself as a stable institution and had achieved a level of effectiveness that set it apart from other secondary schools that did not receive assistance from the Government. As of the start of 1946, there were 467 male students attending the school.[16]
In 1947, a recommendation was made to the director of education to grant the academy the status of a Government Assisted School.[16][19][20] The recommendation was approved, and the academy begun operating as a Government Assisted school from 1 January 1950.[10]
Due to a steady increase in the number of applicants applying for enrolment in the academy, the academy's administrators began preparations to relocate the academy to a larger and permanent site. The initial site acquired to relocate the school was situated at Kokomlemle; however, this site had to be abandoned as a result of a prolonged litigation concerning the ownership of the land. A second site, which was located at Korle Gonno, was also given up because of its remote location. The search for a new school site ended in 1956 when J. A. Halm-Addo succeeded in lobbying the Convention People's Party government to relocate and expand the academy as part of its accelerated development plan.[21] Owing to his efforts, Accra Academy was offered a 37-acre plot of land at Bubuashie, off the Winneba Road.[10]
Barnes, Hubbard & Arundel's local office in Accra were the architects for the school's first buildings. J. Monta & Sons was awarded the contract to develop the new school site in October 1959, and by July 1961, presented the newly developed school site with new buildings to the school administrators. In September of the same year, the academy relocated from Ellen House to the present site at Bubuashie. A ceremony to officially open up the new buildings was held on 3 February 1962 and A. J. Dowuona-Hammond, Minister for Education and incidentally an old student, unveiled a commemorative plaque.[22]
The first dormitory block to serve as a residential facility for students was completed later in 1966.[10]
The academy acquired the nickname Little Legon shortly after the new school site was commissioned, when some students from the Western Region who had gained admission into the University of Ghana, reported at the academy instead of the University of Ghana, apparently confused by the close similarity between the infrastructure of both educational institutions.[10]
In 1981, the academy celebrated its golden jubilee with a student enrolment of 900 and a teaching staff of 52.[10]Robert Addo-Fening of the University of Ghana as part of celebrations of the golden jubilee documented the early history of the Accra Academy for publishing as a Golden Jubilee Brochure. This source was to serve as an important reference point for the first history book on the school published in 2022 titled Accra Aca Bleoo: The History of the Accra Academy from Jamestown to Bubuashie authored by Simon Ontoyin, an old student.[23]
In 2015, Asamoah Gyan, an old student and captain of the senior side of the male national football team, announced he will be funding the construction of an astro turf football pitch facility for the school.[24] The facility became the first football astro turf facility to be constructed in a Ghanaian school and only one of a few in the country at its completion in 2017.[25] The construction of the astro turf pitch was done by Wembley Sports Construction, a company owned by Robert Coleman, an old student.[26] Coleman went on to put up many more astro turf facilities in the country on government contract.[27]
Being a senior high school for boys, the academy offers admission to boys only. Gaining entry into the academy is competitive,[29] and open to students who have completed Junior high school. Prior to writing their Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE),[29] final year Junior High School students, register for senior high school through a computerized school selection and placement system (CSSPS) which was introduced by the Ghana Education Service in 2005.[13][30]
Unlike in the previous grading system in which a candidate's overall academic performance in the Basic Education Certificate Examination was obtained by computing the aggregate on the candidate's best six subject scores,[29] the raw scores obtained by a candidate in the Basic Education Certificate Examination determines the candidates overall academic performance in the exam under the computerized school selection and placement system.[30] Because the computerized school selection and placement system uses a deferred-acceptance algorithm which ensures that Junior high school applicants are admitted strictly based on academic merit,[29] administrators of the academy use raw scores obtained in the Basic Education Certificate Examination to admit applicants from Junior High School.
The programmes run in the academy are: general arts, general science, agriculture, business and visual arts. As part of their computerized school selection and placement system registration, final year junior high school applicants select four elective courses. Unlike elective courses, core courses are offered to all students, irrespective of their programme of study.[29][31][32] The academy's core courses are: English language, coremathematics, social studies, integrated science, ICT (core) and physical education, however, students are only examined both internally and externally as well, in the first five aforementioned courses.[33]
The academy's curriculum like that of other senior high schools in Ghana, operates in a three-year academic cycle, from form one to form three. The beginning of the first academic year marks the enrolment of the student in the academy, while the ending of the third academic year marks the graduation of the student.[32]
Academic performance
The academy maintains a high academic standard and has over the years been ranked among the best performing senior high schools in Ghana. In 2009, the academy was listed among six other schools in the Greater Accra Region, which had 60% or more of its candidates qualifying for tertiary education.[34] In a survey, the academy was listed among secondary schools in Ghana that contribute 50% or more of its students to universities.[35]
In 2018, 676 students of the school sat the WASSCE. 640 students of this number passed in all 8 courses taken (i.e obtained grades between A1 to C6). This represented a percentage pass of 94.7% and percentage of students of qualified academic enrolment status into a university programme in Ghana.[36] In 2020, 672 students of the school sat the WASSCE. 633 students of this number had passes in 6 courses (i.e 4 core courses and 2 elective courses). This represented a percentage pass of 94.2% in relation to passes in 6 courses.[37]
The academy has eight halls of residence. The first four of these halls were inaugurated as part of the school's 1967 Annual Speech and Prize Giving Day activities. Among the four, three were later renamed after founding fathers of the school, with the exception of Kofi Konuah, while the fourth is named after Mrs. Ellen Buckle.[38] The remaining four halls were inaugurated as part of the school's 83rd Founders' Day Celebration in 2014.[39] They are named after alumni; Nana Akuoko Sarpong, Peter Ala Adjetey, Nana Wereko Ampem and Nana Awuah Darko Ampem.[40]
Each hall is supervised by a hall-master while a senior hall-master serves as a liaison between all four halls of residence. Hall-prefects assist hall-masters in the performance of their official duties and have a general responsibility to maintain order in their halls.
Hall-masters are not resident in the halls they supervise but rather housed in staff bungalows on the school's premises, on the other hand, hall-prefects reside in the halls in which they exercise jurisdiction. Each hall of residence contains a bedroom, storage room, ironing room, prefects' cubicle and a washroom.
Each academic year, the administrators of the academy organize athletics competitions between the members of the four Halls of Residence as a way of building up rapport among students. These inter-Hall athletic competitions also serve as an avenue for the academy's sports trainers to select students with outstanding sports qualities who can represent the academy in external sports competitions.
Regulations and sanctions
The Accra Academy maintains strict rules on discipline.[41] A student undertaking a mild punishment is asked to carry out cleaning, scrubbing, sweeping, weeding or disposing of refuse. A student who commits a grievous school offence is made to proceed on an indefinite suspension or is dismissed from the academy, a notable example of which is the dismissal of Chuckie Taylor, the son of the former president of Liberia, Charles Taylor, on grounds of possessing drugs and weapons.[42]
As early as 1934, the academy's administrators hired a sports-master to organize the sporting activities of the academy. Students were trained in athletics, soccer, and hockey. The academy won the Aggrey Shield together with seven other trophies in the annual inter-college athletics competition held in 1950, and through which the academy became recognized in Ghanaian inter-college sports, while the words "Accra Aca, Bleoo" came to also serve as a slogan for the school.[55][10]
Annual events
The academy's administrators and alumni association organize annual events for the students and alumni of the school, including a speech and prize-giving day ceremony, a memorial lecture and a Home-coming Reunion. The annual speech and prize-giving day ceremony award the school's best performing students. Occasionally retired as well as active teachers and staff of the academy are awarded for their contributions to the school.[56] The Konuah-Halm-Addo-Awuletey-Alema Memorial Lectures (formerly Accra Academy Foundation Lectures) was instituted in 1991 by Vincent Freeman, then academy headmaster, as part of the school's 60th anniversary celebrations. Home-coming reunions are usually organised as part of the academy's anniversary celebrations. They are usually characterized by bonding activities that include the singing of popular school songs called Jamas and the playing of table tennis, football and snooker.[57][58]
The association functions as an old boys network which is opened to any person who has been enrolled in the academy for more than one year.[66][67]
The association has a governing body consisting of: a president, secretary, treasurer and a public relations officer elected at an annual general meeting for a fixed tenure of office.[66] They form the executive committee of the association and have the responsibility of planning and executing all programmes or events that are organised by the association. The association is operated from a national secretariat, which doubles as the association's headquarters in Accra. It is located on the premises of the school and is responsible for coordinating the activities of all year groups and regional secretariats of the association. It also serves as a liaison between alumni and the school.
The school has graduated many notable alumni, including a member of the big six, a head of state, and a deputy head of state. 3 speakers of parliament attended the school, as well as 2 Chief Justices of Ghana. Thus, all three arms of government (executive, legislature and judiciary) have been led by the school's alumni.[68] All three service branches of the Ghana Armed Forces (army, navy and air force) have also been led by alumni. A former fourth service branch of the Ghana Armed Forces (border guards), during its brief existence, was also led by an alumni. The national assemblies which deliberated over and presented the draft constitutions of Ghana's Third Republic and Fourth Republic were both chaired by alumni.[69][70]
ACASMA is the joint association of the old boys and girls of Accra Academy and the St. Mary's Senior Secondary School, now St. Mary's Senior High School.[131][132]
There was a nationwide teachers strike in the 1970s and some Accra Academy students who were capable of learning the school curricula on their own offered lessons free of charge to their colleagues in Accra Academy and St. Mary's Senior Secondary School. The goodwill demonstrated by these students from the Accra Academy won the admiration of staff and students of the St. Mary's Senior Secondary School and resulted in the formation of the alliance to foster stronger ties between both secondary educational institutions.[133][134]
Lodge Accra Academy
The Accra Academy Lodge is a Masonic lodge managed by alumni who are Freemasons in the Grand Lodge of Ghana or the Grand Lodge of Scotland. The lodge is not part of the school's administration and as such has its own management and premises. Membership in the lodge is open only to alumni. Members occasionally support the school with financial assistance.
