Wesley Girls' High School (WGHS) is an educational institution for girls in Cape Coast in the Central region of Ghana.[1] It was founded in 1836 by Harriet Wrigley, the wife of a Methodist minister.[2] The school is named after the founder of Methodism, John Wesley.
History
The school was founded by the 2nd Methodist Missionary to the gold coast, Mrs. Harriet Wrigley in 1836 with 25 girls. Her aim was to give the girls basic training in housekeeping and catechism. Subjects taught included Writing, Reading,Sewing and Religious Education. Classes were held at manse, in the Steadfast Hall near Victoria park in Cape Coast.
However, five months after arrival, Mrs Wrigley died. It was not until 1837 that an efficient head of school in the person of Mrs. Elizabeth Waldron took over the running of the school. She administered the school for 43 good years and laid a solid foundation for what was to become the Wesleyan Girls' School and Training Home. Values such as fortitude, integrity and truthfulness soon became the hallmarks of products of the school. Their high academic ability encouraged the Methodist Church to agree to the provision of higher education for the girls. Consequently, in 1884, Rev. W.M. Cannell who was then the Headmaster of Mfantsipm School started the secondary section with 20 girls.
The two levels; primary and secondary continued by fits and starts and were sometimes closed down due to acute shortage of funding. It suffered a temporary loss of identity when it had to team up with Mfantsipm as a co-educational secondary school under a new name, The Collegiate School.
By 1900 the school was on its own again with Mrs. H.J. Ellis as the headmistress. The school, in the early 20th century was dominated by the able leadership and constructive work of Sister Evelyn Bellamy, a deaconess who headed the school from 1914 to 1943. It was during her time, precisely on 8th June 1925 that Dr. Kwegyir Aggrey visited the school and penned these words into the logbook of the school
"to educate a boy is to educate an individual but to educate a girl is to educate a family".
In 2019, five pupils of the school gained seven of the highest performances by subject in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination.[4] Wesley Girls High School was awarded GHc 20,000 as the best-performing girls' school in the 2023 NSMQ competition[5]
Wesley Girls' High School was ranked 68th out of the top 100 best high schools in Africa by Africa Almanac in 2003, based upon quality of education, student engagement, strength and activities of alumnae, school profile, internet and news visibility.[6]
Controversy
In December 2024, the school was sued by Shafic Osman, a private legal practitioner for allegedly denying Muslim students the right to practice their faith in the school.[7][8]
Notable alumni
This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations.(January 2025)
Rosina Acheampong, educationist, first female deputy director general of the GES, first Ghanaian headmistress of Wesley Girls High School
^"top20highschools". Africa Almanac. 1 October 2003. Archived from the original on 14 January 2007. Retrieved 19 June 2016. The research leading up to the publication of the 100 Best High Schools in Africa began with the launching of the website in December 2000.
