Kwame Nkrumah: A Life dedicated to education for all
Kwame Nkrumah: A Life dedicated to education for all
Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah – the great Pan-Africanist and politician who was at the forefront in the fight for freedom against British colonial rule in Ghana. Though no more with us, his legacy continues forty-seven years on. In honour of the great son of Africa, we would take a moment to look at some of his contributions to education. An educationist and academician himself, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah dedicated his life to ensuring that the Ghanaian would have access to quality education come rain or shine.
Free basic education: In 1961, he introduced free education for primary and middle schools to ensure that every child of school-going age had access to education. Not only did Dr. Nkrumah provide free education, but supplied free textbooks to schoolchildren in 1963. Wow a visionary indeed!
Founded the Ghana National College in Cape Coast: To aid in quality education of the Ghanaian child, Dr. Nkrumah founded the College in 1948. During its inauguration, hopeful Dr. Nkrumah expressed that, ‘’I look forward to the time when there will be a chain of Ghana Colleges in all the four territories which make up the Gold Coast, leading to the founding of a very high institution in this country.’
Establishment of the Ghana Education Trust: After setting up Ghana National College, Nkrumah widened the boundaries of education by establishing the Ghana Education Trust. This was done in order to set up other secondary schools as well as Teacher Training Colleges. Some secondary schools which were opened under the trust include Mfantsiman Secondary School, Ofori Panyin Secondary School, Techiman Secondary School, and Apam Secondary School to mention a few.
Establishment of Training Colleges: With the outburst of more secondary schools, there was the need for more quality teachers to be trained. This, then led the country’s first president to initiate the setting up of 16 other teacher training colleges. These included the Atebubu Training College, Berekum Training College, Fosu Training College and the Enchi Training College.
