The Salem School, Osu, or the Osu Presbyterian Boys’ Boarding School or simply, Osu Salem, formerly known as the Basel Mission Middle School'','' is an all boys’ residential middle or

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

secondary school located in the suburb of Osu in

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

, Ghana. The Salem School was the first middle school and the first boarding school to be established in

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

. The school was founded under the auspices of the

Basel Mission The Basel Mission was a Christian missionary society based in Switzerland. It was active from 1815 to 2001, when it transferred the operative work to , the successor organization of ''Kooperation Evangelischer Kirchen und Missione'' (KEM), found ...

in 1843 and supervised by three pioneering

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

and

schoolmaster The word schoolmaster, or simply master, refers to a male school teacher. This usage survives in British independent schools, both secondary and preparatory, and a few Indian boarding schools (such as The Doon School) that were modelled after B ...

s, Jamaican,

Alexander Worthy Clerk Alexander Worthy Clerk (4 March 1820 – 11 February 1906) was a Jamaican Moravian pioneer missionary, teacher and clergyman who arrived in 1843 in the Danish Protectorate of Christiansborg, now Osu in Accra, Ghana, then known as the Go ...

and Angolan-born Jamaican

Catherine Mulgrave Catherine Elisabeth Mulgrave also Gewe (19 November 1827 – 14 January 1891) was an Angolan-born Jamaican Moravian pioneer educator, administrator and missionary who accompanied a group of 24 Caribbean mission recruits from Jamaica and Antig ...

together with the German-trained

Americo-Liberian Americo-Liberian people or Congo people or Congau people in Liberian English,Cooper, Helene, ''The House at Sugar Beach: In Search of a Lost African Childhood'' (United States: Simon and Schuster, 2008), p. 6 are a Liberian ethnic group of Afric ...

George Peter Thompson George Peter Thompson (1819–1889) was a Liberian-born educator, clergyman and pioneer missionary of the Basel Evangelical Missionary Society of Switzerland. He was also the first African to be educated in Europe by the mission and subsequ ...

History

On 27 November 1843, an English language Christian school, ''The Salem School'' was established at Osu by missionaries affiliated to the

Basel Evangelical Missionary Society The Basel Mission was a Christian missionary society based in Switzerland. It was active from 1815 to 2001, when it transferred the operative work to , the successor organization of ''Kooperation Evangelischer Kirchen und Missione'' (KEM), foun ...

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

, Switzerland. Per the account of German

church historian Church Historian and Recorder (usually shortened to Church Historian) is a priesthood calling in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The role of the Church Historian and Recorder is to keep an accurate and comprehensive record of th ...

Hans Werner Debrunner Hans Werner Debrunner (1923 –1998) was a Swiss German historian and theologian whose work mainly covered mission history, West Africa and the African diaspora. He also carried out academic research on history relating to missiology in northern ...

, the founders of the school were the missionaries

West Indian A West Indian is a native or inhabitant of the West Indies (the Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago). For more than 100 years the words ''West Indian'' specifically described natives of the West Indies, but by 1661 Europeans had begun to use it ...

and Angolan-born

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

in addition to the German-educated

George Thompson. A decade and a half earlier, four

aries of

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

heritage had arrived in the Danish Protectorate of Christiansborg in the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

. They were Germans, Karl F. Salbach, Gottlieb Holzwath and Johannes Henke as well as Swiss-born Johannes Gottlieb Schmidt who died from tropical diseases within a few months of their arrival. The Jamaican founders were among 24

missionaries recruited by the

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

minister, the Rev.

Andreas Riis Andreas Riis (12 January 1804 – 13 January 1854) was a Danish minister and pioneer missionary who is widely regarded by historians as the founder of the Gold Coast branch of the Basel Evangelical Missionary Society. A resident of the Gold ...

in 1843. In nineteenth century colonial Ghana, ''Salem'' referred to the section of town inhabited by the

European Christian Christianity is the largest religion in Europe. Christianity has been practiced in Europe since the first century, and a number of the Pauline Epistles were addressed to Christians living in Greece, as well as other parts of the Roman Empire. ...

missionaries of the

African Christian Christianity in Africa first arrived in Egypt in approximately 50 AD, reached the region around Carthage by the end of the second century. In the 4th century, the Aksumite empire in modern-day Ethiopia and Eritrea became one of the first regions ...

converts also lived in the Salem quarter. The concept of having a living quarters and a school was replicated in other towns on the

including Akropong, Abokobi,

Peki Peki is a town in the South Dayi District in the Volta Region of Ghana. It comprises eight subtowns, each with a subchief - Tsame, Avetile, Afeviwofe, Blengo, Dzake, Wudome, Dzobati and Adzokoe. All of these subchiefs swear allegiance to a param ...

, La,

Teshie Teshie is a coastal town in the Ledzokuku Municipal District, a district in the Greater Accra Region of southeastern Ghana. Teshie is the ninth most populous settlement in Ghana, with a population of 171,875 people. Politics Teshie is in the ...

Odumase Krobo Odumase is a town and capital of Lower Manya Krobo Municipal District in the Eastern Region of Ghana. The Presbyterian Boys' Senior High School was formerly located here. Prominent sites The town is a proposed site for the construction of ...

Ada Foah Ada Foah is a town on the southeast coast of Ghana, where the Volta River meets the Atlantic Ocean. The town is located along the Volta River, off of the Accra-Aflao motorway. Known for palm-lined beaches and estuary islands, Ada Foah is also th ...

, Kibi,

Abetifi Abetifi is a small town in south Ghana and is the capital of Kwahu East district, a district in the Eastern Region of south Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the ...

Nsaba Nsaba is a town in the Central Region of Ghana. The Nsaba Presbyterian Secondary School, a second cycle The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor ...

among others. The inaugural class of the school, made up of 41 pupils (34 boys and 7 girls), was taken from the

Danish language Danish (; , ) is a North Germanic language spoken by about six million people, principally in and around Denmark. Communities of Danish speakers are also found in Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and the northern German region of Southern Schles ...

''Christiansborg Castle School''. The Christiansborg Castle School was a sister school of the ''Cape Coast Castle School'' that was established by the

Anglican priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particul ...

, the Reverend Thompson and the

Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societi ...

(SPG) affiliated to the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

. Danish was the medium of instruction at the Christiansborg School. The castle schools were established by the European Governors to educate the Euro-African

mulatto (, ) is a racial classification to refer to people of mixed African and European ancestry. Its use is considered outdated and offensive in several languages, including English and Dutch, whereas in languages such as Spanish and Portuguese is ...

children of European men and

African women The culture, evolution, and history of women who were born in, live in, and are from the continent of Africa reflect the evolution and history of the African continent itself. Numerous short studies regarding women's history in African nations ...

for eventual employment as Administrative Assistants in the colonial civil service. In 1850, the British authorities bought the fort and castle belonging to the Danish authorities. Danish was no longer the

lingua franca A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...

Christiansborg Christiansborg Palace ( da, Christiansborg Slot; ) is a palace and government building on the islet of Slotsholmen in central Copenhagen, Denmark. It is the seat of the Danish Parliament ('), the Danish Prime Minister's Office, and the Supreme ...

and the

English-language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

''Salem School'' became the school of choice for the residents of the

British colony The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remnants of the former Bri ...

. The school faced many challenging periods in the early years. The

transferred

in 1849 to Akropong to establish a similar ''Salem School'' there. When the locals of Osu refused to pay a

poll-tax A poll tax, also known as head tax or capitation, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources. Head taxes were important sources of revenue for many governments fr ...

imposed by the British administration in 1854, colonial forces bombed the town using the warship, "''H.M. Scourge''" for two days which destroyed the existing infrastructure of the school and many private homes. As a result, the school together with the local Christian community in Osu relocated to Abokobi on the outskirts of the Ghanaian capital, Accra. By 1957, the original premises had been renovated and the school returned to Osu. The layout of the ''Salem School'' was a quadrangle surrounded by student dormitories, classrooms, the headmaster's quarters and teachers’

bungalow A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is either single-story or has a second story built into a sloping roof (usually with dormer windows), and may be surrounded by wide verandas. The first house in England that was classified as a b ...

s. This architectural style ensured close supervision of pupils by the school authorities. The school maintained a disciplinary code which was strictly enforced. The code pertained to all spheres of school life including infractions such as lateness to class, disrespect, untidiness and absenteeism. In the

era, the four-year school curriculum included instruction in the

Ga language Ga is a Kwa language spoken in Ghana, in and around the capital Accra. There are also some speakers in Togo, Benin and Western Nigeria. It has a phonemic distinction between three vowel lengths. Classification Ga is a Kwa language, part of ...

and English. The development of the Ga curriculum was led by Johannes Zimmerman and

historian, Carl Christian Reindorf who were influential in the translation of the Bible into the

. Reindorf wrote '' The History of the Gold Coast and Asante'' which was published in 1895. Johannes Gottlieb Christaller worked on the translation of the Bible into the Twi language while Westermann translated the Bible into the

Ewe language Ewe (''Eʋe'' or ''Eʋegbe'' ) is a language spoken by approximately 20 million people in West Africa, mainly in Ghana, Togo and Benin, and also in some other countries like Liberia and southwestern Nigeria. Ewe is part of a cluster of related ...

. Other subjects taught included English and

Vernacular A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...

(Ga),

Arithmetic Arithmetic () is an elementary part of mathematics that consists of the study of the properties of the traditional operations on numbers— addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, exponentiation, and extraction of roots. In the 19th ...

Geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...

, History, Religious Knowledge,

Nature study The nature study movement (alternatively, Nature Study or nature-study) was a popular education movement that originated in the United States and spread throughout the English-speaking world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Nature study ...

Hygiene Hygiene is a series of practices performed to preserve health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "Hygiene refers to conditions and practices that help to maintain health and prevent the spread of diseases." Personal hygiene refer ...

Handwriting Handwriting is the writing done with a writing instrument, such as a pen or pencil, in the hand. Handwriting includes both printing and cursive styles and is separate from formal calligraphy or typeface A typeface (or font family) is ...

and Music. Training in

the arts The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both ...

and

craft A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale prod ...

s was integral to the school curriculum:

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and por ...

, carpentry,

basket A basket is a container that is traditionally constructed from stiff fibers and can be made from a range of materials, including wood splints, runners, and cane. While most baskets are made from plant materials, other materials such as horsehai ...

and mat weaving. Daily church attendance and Sunday service at the Basel Mission Church (now

Ebenezer Presbyterian Church, Osu The Ebenezer Presbyterian Church, formerly known as the Basel Mission Church, Christiansborg, is a historic Protestant church located in the suburb of Osu in Accra, Ghana. The church was founded by the Basel Evangelical Missionary Society in 18 ...

) were required of all enrolled pupils. In 1884, there were organisational reforms introduced by the new inspector of education for the

schools,

the Reverend The Reverend is an style (manner of address), honorific style most often placed before the names of Christian clergy and Minister of religion, ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and c ...

Auer which streamlined the concept of the four-year middle boarding school. The educational model of the ''Salem School'' at Osu was the most rigorous in the Gold Coast colony until the introduction of the Accelerated Education Plan in 1951 by

Kwame Nkrumah Kwame Nkrumah (born 21 September 190927 April 1972) was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He was the first Prime Minister and President of Ghana, having led the Gold Coast to independence from Britain in 1957. An in ...

for the rapid expansion of access to education on the

and later modern

. In the colonial era, the school's alumni went on to become leaders in law, politics,

public service A public service is any service intended to address specific needs pertaining to the aggregate members of a community. Public services are available to people within a government jurisdiction as provided directly through public sector agencies ...

, business, medicine, finance, engineering, artisanal craft and several other fields.

Learning environment

Currently, the school offers a 3-year (9-term) basic curriculum according to the

Ghana Education Service The Ghana Education Service (GES) is a government agency under the Ministry of Education responsible for implementing government policies that ensure that Ghanaians of school-going age irrespective of their ethnicity, gender, disability, religiou ...

syllabus and preparing pupils for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) conducted by the

West African Examination Council The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) is an examination board established by law to determine the examinations required in the public interest in the English-speaking West African countries, to conduct the examinations and to award certif ...

. The subjects taught include languages including English, French, Ghanaian languages such as Ga and

Twi Twi () is a dialect of the Akan language spoken in southern and central Ghana by several million people, mainly of the Akan people, the largest of the seventeen major ethnic groups in Ghana. Twi has about 17-18 million speakers in total, includ ...

, mathematics, natural science, social studies, religious and moral education, basic design and technology (

home economics Home economics, also called domestic science or family and consumer sciences, is a subject concerning human development, personal and family finances, consumer issues, housing and interior design, nutrition and food preparation, as well as texti ...

graphics Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of data, as in design and manufacture ...

& pre-technical skills),

information and communications technology Information and communications technology (ICT) is an extensional term for information technology (IT) that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of telecommunications (telephone lines and wireless signals) and computers, ...

(ICT) and

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...

Past principals

The following individuals were headmasters of the school:

Notable teachers

* Gottlieb Ababio Adom, educator, journalist, editor and Presbyterian minister *

– Jamaican Moravian missionary and teacher *

Carl Henry Clerk Carl Henry Clerk (4 January 1895 – 28 May 1982) was a Ghanaian agricultural educationist, administrator, journalist, editor and church minister who was elected the fourth Synod Clerk of the Presbyterian Church of the Gold Coast, assuming t ...

, educator, administrator, journalist, editor and Presbyterian minister *

, Angolan-born Jamaican pioneer woman educator, administrator and missionary *

Emmanuel Charles Quist Sir Emmanuel Charles Quist, also known as Paa Quist (21 May 1880, in Christiansborg, Accra – 30 March 1959) was a barrister, educator and judge who served as the first Speaker of the Gold Coast Legislative Assembly and the first Speaker of ...

, barrister, judge and the first African President of the Legislative Council and first Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana * Carl Christian Reindorf, historian and Basel Mission pastor *

, first African Basel missionary *

Johannes Zimmermann Johannes Zimmermann (2 March 1825 – 13 December 1876) was a missionary, clergyman, translator, philologist and ethnolinguist of the Basel Evangelical Missionary Society of Switzerland, who translated the entire Bible into the Ga language of ...

, German missionary and philologist

Notable alumni

* Gottlieb Ababio Adom, educator, journalist, editor and Presbyterian minister *

Ebenezer Akuete Ebenezer Amatei Akuete (born 8 December 1935) is a Ghanaian diplomat and economic consultant. He served as Ghana's Ambassador to the United States of America from January 1982 to December 1982. Early life and education Akuete was born on 8 De ...

, former Ghanaian diplomat * L.J. Chinery-Hesse, parliamentary draftsman, Solicitor-General and Acting Attorney General (1979) *

, educator, administrator, journalist, editor and Presbyterian minister *

George C. Clerk George Carver Clerk, (29 July 1931 – 2 May 2019) was a Ghanaian botanist and plant pathologist. A professor and later, an emeritus professor at the University of Ghana, Legon, he also focused his research on West African mycology and ecolo ...

, botanist and plant pathologist * Nicholas, T. Clerk, academic, administrator, Presbyterian minister and former Rector of the GIMPA * Theodore S. Clerk, urban planner and first Ghanaian architect *

Silas Dodu Silas Rofino Amu Dodu, (11 December 1924 – 2007) was a Ghanaian physician and academic. He was a professor of medicine, the second Dean at the University of Ghana Medical School and a pioneer cardiologist in Ghana. He and others have been desc ...

, academic, cardiologist and second Dean of the University of Ghana Medical School * Modjaben Dowuona, first Registrar of the

University of Ghana The University of Ghana is a public university located in Accra, Ghana. It the oldest and largest of the thirteen Ghanaian national public universities. The university was founded in 1948 as the University College of the Gold Coast in the Br ...

; Minister for Education (1966–1969) *

Charles Odamtten Easmon Charles Odamtten Easmon or C. O. Easmon, popularly known as Charlie Easmon, (22 September 1913 – 19 May 1994) was a medical doctor and academic who became the first Ghanaian to formally qualify as a surgeon specialist and the first Dean of t ...

, first Ghanaian surgeon and first Dean of the University of Ghana Medical School *

Emmanuel Evans-Anfom Emmanuel Evans-Anfom FRCSEd FICS FAAS FWACS (7 October 1919 – 7 April 2021) was a Ghanaian physician, scholar, university administrator, and public servant who served as the second Vice Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science ...

, medical practitioner and university administrator * Vincent Birch Freeman, educationist and headmaster *

Chris Tsui Hesse Christian Tsui Hesse, popularly known as Chris Hesse (born 29 August 1932) is a Ghanaian cinematographer, filmmaker, film administrator, photographer and Presbyterian minister who is known for his cinematography in several award-winning films su ...

, cinematographer, filmmaker, prison reform advocate and Presbyterian minister * L. W. Fifi Hesse, first black African Rhodes Scholar, Director-General, Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), 1972–1974; 1984–1988 and Member, Public Services Commission of Ghana *

Nii Ashie Kotey Emmanuel Nii Ashie Kotey (born 2 October 1953) is a Ghanaian judge and academic. He has been a Justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana since his appointment in 2018. Kotey was born in Osu, a suburb of Accra. After obtaining his LL.M and Ph.D. ...

– academic, lawyer and Justice of the

Supreme Court of Ghana The Supreme Court of Ghana is the highest judicial body in Ghana. Ghana's 1992 constitution guarantees the independence and separation of the Judiciary from the Legislative and the Executive arms of government.1992 Constitution Article 125( ...

(2018–2023) * George Tawia Odamtten, Ghanaian mycologist * Nii Amaa Ollenu, jurist, judge and Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana in the Second Republic *

, barrister, judge and the first African Speaker of the Legislative Council and first Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana * Carl Christian Reindorf, Basel mission pastor and pioneer historian *

Fred T. Sai Frederick Torgbor Sai, (23 June 1924 – 17 September 2019) was a Ghanaian academic and family health physician who co-founded the Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana in 1967. A gender and reproductive health advocate, he was known for hi ...

, family physician, academic and advocate of reproductive rights * Harry Sawyerr, politician and quantity surveyor

References