Ghana Senior High Technical School

Ghana Secondary Technical School GSTS
Mente et Manu (With mind and hands)
Address
Harbour Road, Takoradi Sekondi-Takoradi, Western Region Ghana
Coordinates	04°53′52″N 01°44′59″W / 4.89778°N 1.74972°W / 4.89778; -1.74972Coordinates: 04°53′52″N 01°44′59″W / 4.89778°N 1.74972°W / 4.89778; -1.74972
Information
Type	Secondary Technical
Established	August 9, 1909 (1909-08-09)
Status	Active
School district	Sekondi Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA)
GES Category	A
Headmaster	Mr. Samuel Kofi Essel
Chaplain	Very Rev. Ebenezer Adutwum (Methodist)
Teaching staff	50
Grades	Form 1 to 3
Gender	All male
Enrollment	1200+
Campus	Residential
Houses	Ritchie House      Vanderpuye House      Weston House      Opong House (formerly Robinson)      Aryee House      Dodoo House      Kennedy House      Einstein House
Color(s)	Bright yellow walls with blue structural members and fascia.
Athletics	Track, field and courts
Mascot	Mother Tesco - oldest and tallest tree on campus.
Nickname	The Giants/Tesco
Rival	St John's Senior High School
Yearbook	The Tescan
Affiliation	GSTS Alumni Association of North America.
Flagship society	Army (Infantry) Cadet Corps, est 1954.
Traditional colors	Red and White
Uniform color	Tan
Courses	Science Technical General Arts
Website	www.gsts-takoradi.org

The Ghana Secondary Technical School is a Science and Technology oriented high school located in Takoradi on the west coast of Ghana. The school was founded on 9th August 1909 in Accra^[1] as Accra Technical School, and, after the name had been changed to Government Technical School, it moved to its current site in Takoradi in 1939.^[2] In 1953, the name was changed to Government Secondary Technical School, and in 1970, it was given its current name.^[3] Former students of the school are popularly known as Giants, and students in the school are called Tescans.

History

The school was started in 1909 as a pure Technical School and was then sited at the former premises of the Accountant General (the current site of Kinbu Secondary Technical School in Accra).^[4] It was founded in response to the growing demand for technical education in the British colonies at that time. Its main purpose was to churn out manpower for the essential services of the Gold Coast i.e. Transport and communication, Public Works Department and Electrical Supply Commission.

The buildings in Takoradi were completed in 1939 at the cost of £37,000. The site, was larger by far than the former, the new site being on a 120-hectare ground. Accordingly, packing started immediately from May 1939 and equipment from Accra was transferred to Takoradi during the month of June, July and August by road. The school re-opened in Takoradi on the 21st of September, 1939 under the headship of Mr. T. T. Gilbert. Here its unique character became evident as students from other West Africa countries came to do courses in the school. In 1940 students came from Nigeria and the Republic of Benin (then Dahomey) and in 1941 others came from Sierra Leone. Clearly, grammar schools were present all over West Africa but not Technical Schools.

Just when the school was settling down in Takoradi the World War II was declared and the school had to move house again as its premises were required for the use of the Royal Air Force (RAF). In August, 1940 the school moved to the Elmina Castle and the Royal Air Force occupied its buildings. (Today a miniature nose of an aeroplane hangs at the entrance of the main classroom block to commemorate the occupation by the Royal Air Force). The castle was woefully unsuitable for a school and a few alterations were required before it could house a school. Equipment had again to be transferred and this was done in November and December and the school re-opened in January 1941. Fifty (50) of the old students returned.

Then another setback was recorded for after a mere sixteen-month period the castle was also required for the training of service tradesmen, the technical branch of the military force. This time the school was closed altogether or rather was absorbed by the technical branch of the military force, for all the staff and most of the pupils served with the forces until the end of hostilities. The Royal Air Force which occupied the school's buildings in Takoradi moved out in October 1945 giving way for the return of Government Technical School under the headship of Major T.C. Watkins, designated Acting Principal. A few of the former staff were brought back and the school started assuming shape and growing again, though rather relatively slowly, for in 1950 there were 110 students compared to 80, recorded as early as 1928.

The modern era

Calling the period from 1953 the modern era is not making to subjective an assertion for the year 1953 saw the beginnings of drastic revision which was characterised by the introduction of a Secondary Curriculum. The school then became Government Secondary Technical School. A five-year course was begun leading to the School Certificate. The pre-1953 curriculum comprised Engineering and Construction with English, Mathematics and Science as background subjects.

From 1953 there was an expansion to include academic subjects like Physics, Chemistry, Elementary and Additional Mathematics, Geography and French. Religious Knowledge, Music and History also came later though for a considerable length of time they were not offered for the school certificate examinations. They were brought in to avert a situation of narrow-mindedness on the part of the products. Government Secondary Technical School had its first African Headmaster, Mr. J.W.L. Mills (who took over from the last white head, Mr. F.E. Joselin) in August 1958. Sixth-form education began in 1961.

Another landmark is the story of the military's involvement in the school. On 3 November 1965 the late Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, first President of the Republic of Ghana, announced that Government Secondary Technical School would be adopted and turned into an Air Force Training College.

"Students in the Government Secondary Technical School will be given such opportunities as are appropriate and suitable to make them potential candidate to the Air Force and even for our Civil Aviation," he said. This pronouncement was not immediately followed by any action until the early 1970s when Air Marshall M. A. Otu (formerly Lt. General) and Senior Officers of the Military Division of the Ministry of Defense visited the school on 23 April 1971 to clarify the intention of the Army's involvement in the school.

In the 1972-73 academic year a batch of students were admitted to do a two-year sixth-form course. The Armed Forces sponsored the Advanced Level education of young military officers, at GSTS, with the aim of enlisting them. It started with Intake 15 of the then Military Academy and Training Schools.^[5] It was a combination of regular academic work with intermittent military training during holidays.^[6] This exclusive arrangement, similar in nature to the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program, was short-lived for no others came. The last batch of military sixth-formers left in the mid 1970s.

The academic year 1970-71 recorded another change of the name of the School. From Government Secondary Technical School it became Ghana Secondary Technical School (to maintain G.S.T.S.) when the school ceased to be a completely Government Institution.

The course of the school's history in the 1970s seemed to suggest that everything had fallen in place. The curricula of the school appeared to have undergone all the relevant changes and had stabilised. The school was doing well in sports, always taking the first position in athletics and rubbing shoulder with other schools in hockey, football, basketball and the rest. There were a number of clubs and societies to take care of both the social and academic life of the students. The upward surge in the reputation of the school brought other problems in its wake. The chief of these was the pressure on the school for admission and consequently on the facilities of the school.

Many parents sought admission for their wards without considering whether their children could read the science and technical course. The then authorities of the school gave in to pragmatism and created class for arts. Students who realised they could not read science were given the opportunity to read arts to the ordinary level examination. For a while the school carried on successfully until it became evident that the authorities had bitten more than they could chew in allowing arts to be read to the examination level. The intense pressure on the time-table was an unhealthy one. In 1985, therefore, a bold decision was taken to drop the arts course and this was done with the last batch of full arts students passing out in 1986.

With the introduction of the Senior Secondary School system in 1990, the authorities realised they could not run away from the maxim, "Variety is the sauce of life." An arts course had to be adopted.

Ghana Secondary Technical School won the prestigious Ghana National Science and Mathematics Quiz for the first time in June, 2012. They were runners-up in 2001 and 2014.

List of Principals and Headmasters from 1909 to date

Achievements

• Winners of the 2012 National Science and Maths Quiz Competition.

Sports

• Winners of the coveted Aggrey Shield in 1957 in Kumasi.
• 2009 National basketball champions at the National Milo Schools' Sports Festival in Kumasi.^[7]
• Winners of zonal inter school athletics competition with close to 40 titles since the inception of the competition (regional record holder in highest number of wins).
• Most successful school in the Western Region in the field of basketball (Spriteball and Close-up competitions).
• Soccer champions in Takoradi Zonal Inter School competition on more than seven occasions.
• Winners of the 2015 Edition of the Osagyefo Cup.^[8]

Extra curricular activities

• First school in the Gold Coast to establish a cadet corps (in 1954).^[9][10]

Notable students

Sports

• Augustine Ahinful – soccer player

Politics, governance and public office

• Fred Ohene-Kena – former Minister for Mines and Energy.

Science

• Thomas Kwofie

References