About St. Louis College of Education
HISTORY
The year 1948 saw the arrival in Ghana of the first St. Louis Sisters from Ireland. Bishop Hubert Joseph Paulissen was then the Vicar Apostolic. It was a historical event to reckon with as that eventful journey has yielded abundant fruit. Sisters Sheila Guissepe, Mary BriedMulhem, Joseph Mary Vibiana and Johannes Hughes were to continue the running of the already established St. Bernadette’s Elementary School, now popularly called Roman Girls’ Demonstration Junior High School, and to open a new Secondary School, St Louis Secondary School, on the same compound.
After the opening of the Secondary School, it became obviously expedient that a Training College should be started. St. Louis Training College was opened at the request ofthe Ministry of Education on 23rd September, 1960 by the Catholic Diocese of Kumasi. For the first year, it had temporary quarters at the new site at St. Louis Secondary School built by the Catholic Diocese of Kumasi. The College was initially to be a Post “B” Certificate Training College for women.
The College was founded by the Catholic Diocese of Kumasi on 23’d September, 1960 as a female counterpart of St. Joseph’s Training College, Bechem, which the same Diocese founded in 1947 to train male teachers. Sister Mary Consilli, the first Principal, and Sister Mary Vibiana (later Marian Barrette)- both St. Louis Sisters-ran the College with funds partly mobilized from their salaries, the Catholic Diocese of Kumasi, funding agencies abroad and other well-wishers. The founding of St. Louis Training College thirteen years after St. Joseph’s Training College’s establishment was also in response to the Church’s obligation to provide quality and holistic education at all levels. In this particular instance, it was founded in the interest of Female Education. In this way, the Church envisaged a gender balance in teacher training and education. It happened to be at the time when the Ministry of Education had also adopted the policy of providing as many as possible teachers for the implementation of the Compulsory Universal Basic Education in the country. (FCUBE).
In its first year, the College had a class of thirty-five students and a teaching staff of three; Sisters Mary Consilii and Mary Vibiana, both Art Graduates, and Mrs. Hagan, a tutor with an Associate Certificate in Education. In the second term, an Art Student from Kumasi College of Technology took up duty as part time tutor. Some of the teething problems included lack of electricity and water supply, thereby, necessitating the use of Aladin lamps.
In 1961, during the long vacation, a change-over of location took place between the Secondary School and the Training College. The latter took up permanent residence at its present site which was donated by Otumfo Osei Agyemang Prempeh II, the then Asantehene, in 1952.
Since the College’s inception, it has gone through “A” 4- Year Certificate to a Specialist Certificate to the “A” 3- Year Post Secondary and now a Diploma in Basic Education
The College has always trained women except for a short period from 1974/75 to 1980/81 academic years when it trained men as well. In 1997/98 academic year, the College became the first women’s College in Ghana to run an Elective Science Course. For the first batch of the Elective Science students, the College received sponsorship from the Rocky Feller Foundation in the United States of America. The College is currently running a Diploma in Basic Education in Foundation Studies, Education ind l’rolcssional Studies. This Diploma Course was started in 2004/2005. EarlyChildhood Education was also introduced in the 2008/2009 academic year. In August 2012, the College started Sandwich Programmes or Diploma and Teachers’ certificate’ A’ in Early Childhood Education in Bachelor of Basic Education.
The College also ran Untrained Teachers’ Diploma in Basic Education (UTDBE), 4- Year Untrained Teachers’ Certificate “A” (Cert “A”) from 2006-2010 and Diploma in Basic Education (Sandwich) Courses up to date. The College also has over the years trained over 15,000 teachers. The progression of its enrolment has been from 410 in 1997 to 866 in 2005/2006 and 913 in 2006/2007. Currently the enrolment for Regular Students stands at 950, Early Childhood Sandwich programme 530, and the population of the Bachelor of Education Sandwich is 660 under the auspices of University of Cape Coast.
It was and still the aim of the College to train teachers for basic schools in Ghana, teachers who regard teaching as a noble profession and as a vocation which they will follow devotedly. Teachers whose professional standard will be as high as the mental capacity of each student allows, female eachers with the requisite know-how who are capable of playing their part in their country’s spiritual, material, moral and social development.
For the College to achieve its laudable aim,. it needs support from government and benefactors in terms of infrastructure, facilities, equipment, computer laboratory and enchanced means of transport. The College celebrated its 40th Anniversary in 2000 and its 50th” Anniversary in October, 2010. The College gained accreditation to become a College of Education in the 2007/2008 academic year.
Mission
The College shall train female teachers morally, professionally and academically to teach competently in basic schools in Ghana.
Vision
The College shall become the best College of Education in Ghana, producing Morally, Academically and Professionally Competent Teachers capable of operating world-wide.
Motto
Ut Sint Unum, Dieu Le Veut” meaning “it is the will of God that we may all be one”.
THE COLLEGE’S CORE VALUES
The core values that are always at the heart of St. Louis College of Education’s Motto, Mission and Vision ground and enliven the College’s Academic and Co-curricular Programme and its operating ethos. The core values ground and enliven the College’s Catholic Identity, Mercy, Heritage and Commitment to knowledge for both personal enhancement and social progress.
The Core Values are:
RESPECT
This value moves members of the College Community to understand the gifts and unique contributions of every person and to value diverse perspectives. There is respect for personal dignity and individual potential. The College maintains a historic commitment to promoting social justice and the common good so that students complete their training with a heightened sense of personal purpose as scholars, professionals and global citizens.
EXCELLENCE
This value commits members of the College community to challenge them to utilize their God-given gifts: Intellectual, Social, Physical, Spiritual and Ethical to consistently strive for outcomes that are exemplary rather than simply satisfactory, such striving for excellence touches all aspects of College life; from Academic Programmes to Professional Programmes, Moral Programmes to Sporting Programmes, from Student Service to Campus Environment and from Recruitment to Special Occasions and daily business.
CLEANLINESS
The College cherishes high standard of cleanliness and put into practice the keeping of the College’s environment clean, hygienic and conducive for people to live in. The members of the College community value excellence in providing a serene, pure and unadulterated environment for students, staff and all visitors to the College. This value is always inculcated into the students based on the fact that, the College believes that cleanliness is next to godliness and clean environment is a recipe for a healthy individual.
LEARNING FOR LIFE
This value encourages members of the College Community to pursue knowledge and truth throughout our lives in ways that improve our communities and us, and that strengthens our understanding of each other. The community therefore displays a strong commitment to education and a means of liberating people to live meaningful lives as well as earn a decent living. In view of this, the College believes that teaching is not only a job but a way of life. It is a sublime task one can be ever entrusted with. Teachers educate generations of learners and in their hands lie the fate of any nation. It is against this background that the College imbues the values of life-long learning in the students during their training.
SERVICE
The value of Service calls the members of the College community to use our gifts, talents and abilities to advance the genuine well being of our community and those we encounter. Service to students is a basic tenet of life at St. Louis College of Education, as is service by students and staff – each lending personal skills and professional expertise to assist others. The College values the manifold ways teacher trainees creatively and deliberately apply their learning to a common good.
COMPASSION
This value compels the members of the College community to stand with and embrace others in their suffering that together we may experience God’s liberating and healing presence.
INTEGRITY
This value gives members of the College community the ability to realize the greater good in our actions and programmes and challenges as to look at our work and ourselves holistically and one united in coherence between words and arts and cause each member of the St. Louis College of Education community to live in accordance with what the College professes to be as an educational institution with a catholic character.
TOLERANCE
This value draws members of the College community to do our daily work with a spirit of graciousness that welcomes new ideas and people of all backgrounds and believes. Welcoming the ideas of another may not result in agreement, but such hospitality does require attentive listening and the readiness to reconsider one’s position.
DIVERSITY
This value builds St. Louis College of Education community to foster a climate that is open and welcoming to diverse people, ideas and perspectives; that promote a constructive discourse on the nature of diversity; and that engages staff, students and all stakeholders in activities that promote the College’s Core Values.