Adisadel College, Central Region
Adisadel College, known as “Adisco” by its students, is an Anglican boarding school for boys in Cape Coast, Ghana. Adisadel College is one of the oldest senior high schools in Ghana. In 2003, Africa Almanack ranked it as the 10th best high school in Africa, based on the quality of its education, the involvement of its students, the activities of its graduates, and its profile on the internet and in the news. They were recently named by WAEC as one of the best senior high schools in Ghana
History
In 1910, Adisadel was founded in a building at Topp Yard, close to Christ Church School and close to Cape Coast Castle. At first, there were only 29 boys at the school. By 1935, it had grown to hold about 200 students. Maxwell Fry and Jane Drew added on to the school buildings in 1950. At the school’s Golden Jubilee in 1960, there were 545 students enrolled. The school celebrated its 100th birthday in 2010, and by then it had about 1,500 boarding students and 93 teachers.
The second founder of the school was the Rt. Rev. Nathaniel Temple Hamlyn, a missionary who was also the Anglican Bishop of Accra from 1908 to 1910. To educate the sons of Anglicans living in the colony, Hamlyn wanted to open a grammar school. He also wanted to make an educational centre that would train clergy.
Adisadel College is the second-oldest secondary school in Ghana. The first is Mfantsipim School, which opened in 1876 and is a fierce foe. Adisco is also one of the most well-known places to learn in sub-Saharan Africa.
Uniform
The black and white striped shirt and black shorts that make up the school uniform perfectly capture the college’s primary colours. The unique attire has led to the Adisco pupils being referred to as “zebra boys”. Students in the former Form One to Form Five stream wore blue shirts and brown khaki shorts prior to the 1990s uniform change, while students in the Sixth Form wore white shirts and brown shorts. The custom of designing unique cloaks for its prefects—red for the head prefect, blue for the other prefects, and green for the assistants—was introduced by Adisadel College, the first secondary school in Ghanaian history, and it is still in place today.’
Headmasters of Adisadel College
| Name | From | To |
|---|---|---|
| G. B. Brown BA | 1910 | 1910 |
| B. P. Haines MA | 1910 | 1910 |
| G. B. Brown BA | 1910 | 1912 |
| Hugh Hare MA(Oxon) | 1913 | 1914 |
| R. Fisher MA(Cantab) | 1914 | 1918 |
| W. Hutton Mensah | 1918 | 1924 |
| S. R. S. Nicholas MA DTh(Durham) | 1924 | 1929 |
| A. J. Knight MA LLB(Cantab) | 1929 | 1937 |
| R. D. Hudson MA(Oxon) | 1938 | 1940 |
| W. G. Harward MA(Oxon) | 1947 | 1952 |
| A. R. H. Dee MA(Sydney) | 1954 | 1955 |
| L. W. Fry MA BSc(Oxon) | 1956 | 1958 |
| T. J. Drury MA(Cantab) | 1959 | 1963 |
| R. T. Orleans-Pobee BA(Lond) MEd(Springfield) | 1963 | 1974 |
| E. A. Jonah BA(Legon) | 1974 | 1982 |
| R. K. Ayitey BA(Ed.) | 1982 | 1991 |
| J. F. K. Appiah-Cobbold BA PGC. | 1991 | 1995 |
| J. E. C. Kitson BA PGCE) | 1995 | 2004 |
| H. K. K. Graham BSc(Hons) PGCE | 2005 | 2014 |
| William Kusi Yeboah | 2014 | 2019 |
| Francis Kwame Agbedanu | 2019 | 2020 |
| Samuel Agudogo | 2021 | Present |
Recent awards
- Winners of the 2016 edition (and runners-up on four other occasions) of the National Science and Maths Quiz
- Winners of 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 editions of the National Hockey Championship / Citizens International Inter-Schools (CIIS) Hockey fiesta.
- Winners of the 2021 National Robotics Championship
