St. John’s School, Sekondi: Courses, History And Many More

St. John’s School is a second-cycle Roman Catholic school for boys only. It is in Sekondi, which is in Ghana’s Western Region. It is one of the best senior high schools in Ghana and the best in the area. In Ghana, the current curriculum is part of the Senior High School system.

The Ghana Education Service is in charge of the system as a whole. Old Boys of St. John’s School are called “Old Saints” with love. Some of the most famous and important men in the country are part of the Old Saints Fraternity.

David Ampofo, an award-winning Ghanaian journalist, communications expert, and social entrepreneur is an old boy, as are Dr. Frank Abu, a former minister of Mines and Energy, Dr. Felix Anyah, a former chief executive of Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, M.K. Onnomah, a Ghanaian politician, the late Major Maxwell Adam Mahama, Shasha Marley, and a lot of other famous and well-known old boys.

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HISTORY

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Archbishop William Thomas Porter of the Society of African Missions started it on January 29, 1952.  Porter was the vicar apostolic at the time the church was started. He would later become the Archbishop of Cape Coast.

When the school first opened, there were three teachers and 47 students.

Background

St. John’s School was started by an English Churchman who moved to the Gold Coast from Nigeria in 1933. In Nigeria, he had been in charge of all Catholic schools. He was shocked to find out on the Gold Coast that the Catholic Church, which had been a source of education in other places for hundreds of years, did not support Second Cycle Institutions there. So, he worked hard to start St. Augustine’s College in 1936 in Cape Coast. Archbishop W. T. Porter of Cape Coast was a brave and wise man with a clear vision.

During the Second World War, there were no plans for other schools and colleges to get money or people from other countries. But the government’s Accelerated Education policy of 1951, which was meant to meet the educational needs of Middle School Form 4 graduates after they finished Primary School, pushed the Church to open a number of Catholic Secondary Schools in the country in 1952.

The Church set up Bishop Herman College in Kpando, Volta Region, Opoku Ware School in Kumasi, Ashanti Region, and St. John’s School in Sekondi-Takoradi, Western Region, to help the many Middle School graduates whose futures didn’t look very bright.

The government took up the church’s challenge and also opened the Keta Secondary School in the Volta Region, the Dormaa Secondary School in what was then the Ashanti Region, and the Fijai Secondary School in Sekondi-Takoradi in the Western Region.

Early Times

On January 29, 1952, the Roman Catholic Church opened St. John’s as a private high school. It was the first secondary school to be built in the Western Region. It was named after Rev. John Beenker of the SMA Society, who became very sick soon after taking the job and had to go back to Holland, where he died.

Rev. Father Francis Kwamena Buah, who was studying for his master’s degree at Cork University in Ireland, was called back to run the school. Before he got there, though, Rev. Father Donnelley, SMA, was in charge.

Rev. Father F. K. Buah, Rev. Father Donnelley, Mr. John Quansah, and 47 students started the school in two temporary classrooms at St. Paul’s Catholic Primary/Middle School in Anaafo Sekondi.

COURSES

COURSES OFFERED AT St. John’s SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL (SHS)

The courses available will be mentioned alongside their elective subjects. Keep in mind that each course’s core subjects are Core Mathematics, English Language, Social Studies, and Integrated Science. The following is the course’s overview:

The courses offered at St. John’s Senior High School are listed below

1. Business
2. Visual Art
3. General Art
4. General Science

COURSES WITH ELECTIVE SUBJECTS

Find below all the courses and their elective subjects to help you make good choices while entering St. John’s Senior High School (SHS)

GENERAL SCIENCE ELECTIVE SUBJECTS

1. Physics
2. Chemistry
3. Elective mathematics
4. Biology

GENERAL ARTS ELECTIVE SUBJECTS

1. Literature in English
2. French
3. Economics
4. Geography
5. History government and
6. Religious studies

BUSINESS ELECTIVE SUBJECTS

1. Accounting
2. Business management
3. Economics
4. Principle of costing or elective mathematics and
5. French

VISUAL ARTS ELECTIVE SUBJECTS

1. General knowledge in arts
2. Textile
3. Graphic design
4. Literature in English
5. French economics basketry
6. Leatherwork
7. Picture making
8. Ceramics and
9. Sculpture

HOME ECONOMICS ELECTIVE SUBJECTS

1. Management in living
2. Food and nutrition
3. General knowledge in arts
4. Textile
5. Economics and
6. French

St. John’s School is a category A school, very competitive in terms of placement, and it is also over-subscribed during school selection by BECE graduates.