The school is celebrating it’s 80th Anniversary The year was 1940. The country was pre-independence Ghana (Gold Coast and the city – the blossoming citadel of education, Cape Coast).
A gallant educationist, Dr. James Kwegyir Aggrey had passed and his nephew, the late Rev. Dr. A. W. E. Appiah, in seeking to perpetuate the memory of his uncle, founded Aggrey Memorial A.M.E. Zion Secondary School on 22nd January, 1940.
The new institution was to give young boys and girls an opportunity to attain adequate secondary education which would fit them into higher fields of learning. Aggrey is thus a living tribute to that great son of Africa – Dr. Kwegyir Aggrey.
The school was first christened, Aggrey Memorial College and enrolled six boys as its first students. It occupied, successively, buildings in the heart of Cape Coast Township during the first few years.
The first home was "Tandon Kuma", House Number 39, Jukwa Road which also served as the Headmaster’s residence. The rent was two pounds five shillings (£2.5) a month. In April 1940 and with a population of ten boys, the school moved to "Bucknor Villa" also in Cape Coast.
Compelled by unhealthy conditions, the school relocated with 20 boys (nine in preparatory class) to a house rented by a football team. That was on 1st November, 1940.
The School went on its first Christmas holidays on 10th December 1940 and resumed on 21st January, 1941 to meet another misfortune. Just a day to the re-opening, the football team decided not to share the premises with them.
The second-year was therefore started in the Headmaster’s residence in House Number 40 on Royal Lane with nine boys. The number decreased to five in the second term. Dark, ominous clouds gathered but the school stood firm. The year 1942 ended with the school well shaken and battered but the founder was undaunted.
On 8th February, 1943, the school moved to a new house (No. C50/1, Commissioner Road) owing to the growing number of students. The rent was three pounds, five shillings (£3.5) per month. The founder established the primary and intermediary section of the school that year to buttress the Secondary Department. On 1st October, 1943, with an enrolment well beyond 200 students, the top section of the school (i.e. Standard 3, Intermediate and Secondary Department) moved to the sixth home of the school at Old Swanzy Factory at No.1 Royal Lane, which belonged to the United African […]
