About Wesley College Of Education – Kumasi

Wesley College of Education, Kumasi was established by the Methodist Church in 1918 the Synod of the Gold Coast Methodist Church decided to relocate the training of the Church’s workers from the Cape Coast and Fourah Bay to the Kemp buildings in Aburi in the Eastern Region of Ghana .At the Kemp buildings the church started the training of Ministers and teacher –catechists under the tutelage of Rev. S.J Gibson. IN 1921, Rev. C. W. Armstrong took over form Rev. Gibson.

In 1922 the fully-fledged institution was named WESLEY COLLEGE and the Rev. C. W. Armstrong became the first Principal with Mr L. A. Greaves as the first Vice-Principal. As the Methodist Church rapidly expanded across the Akan and Ga speaking circuits of the church, there was need to establish and training college in the north of the country to train more teachers, ministers and catechists. The Chairman of the Gold Coast district of the Methodist Church Rev. Harry Webster negotiated with the government at the time, for land to put up the new college. However, it was the Tafohene at the time Nana Yaw Dabanka and his elders who gave the parcel of land on which the college stands at the moment, which was then a dense forest, to the Methodist Church for the establishment of the new college.

The draft agreement for a 999 years lease of a 104-acre plot of land was signed between the Tafohene Nana Yaw Dabanka and the Gold Coast Methodist Church on the 8^th April 1922.On 20^th November 1922 the foundation stone for the Main block was laid by His Excellency the Governor of the Gold Coast Brigadier Sir Gordon Guggisberg    KC., MC, DSO.

The Main block was built in two years by Messrs Schilling and Turner Company. To put up the Main block each member of the Gold Coast Methodist Church contributed five shillings while the prominent and generous donors who immensely supported the construction of the Main block need to be mentioned here. They were Mr. Knight, a businessman and Mayor of Newark, United Kingdom and Mr Brew, a Methodist businessman from Cape Coast, Ghana.

When the main block was completed the college which had in Aburi was transferred to Kumasi. On Monday 3^rd March, 1924, Wesley College was officially opened in Kumasi. Thus, Wesley College, Kumasi became the first higher institution to be established in the Northern Sector of the Gold Coast. The total number of students who came into residence on the 5^th March1924 was 74, consisting of 76 candidates for ministerial training, 48 student-teachers and 19 student-catechists. Out of the 74 students, 26 had been in training at Aburi during the previous years. Members of Staff were Rev. C. W Armstrong, Principal, Mr L. B. Greaves, Vice Principal and Rev. Francis Chapman F. Grant, who in 1961 became the first President of the Methodist Church, Ghana.

In 1930, the first batch of female students was admitted to be trained as teachers . These women were housed at Mmofaturo. Enrollment at the time stood at 135. The present dormitory blocks were completed in 1949 and in early 1950 the women joined the men in the college compound from Mmofraturo.

Principals of the college from 1922 to 1951 were all British Reverend Ministers. The first African principal was Mr Samuel Hanson Amissah, who was a past student and past tutor. In 1961 Mr Amissah became the first Vice President of the conference of the Methodist Church Ghana.

The courses offered in the College have gone through upgrading from 2-year Cert ‘B’; 4-year Cert ‘A’;2-year Post-Secondary Cert ‘A’ and now Diploma in Basic Education(DBE) by the passage of a Parliamentary Bill, Education Act 778 on 6^th January 2008.

Currently Wesley College of Education besides the General Arts, offers special programmes at the Diploma in the Basic Education level. These are Science, Mathematics and French.As a result of training programmes of the College, she has produced many sports personalities, drama and theatre personalities and music enthusiasts.