Tamale Senior High School formerly Government Secondary School, Tamale, Gbewaa Secondary School, and more recently Tamale Secondary School is a co-educationalsecond cycleboarding school located at Education Ridge, a suburb of the Sagnarigu Municipality. The school was founded in 1951 by the then British Colonial Authorities as the first second cycle institution of the Northern Territories.[1][2]
The school is a selective school that grants admissions to students in Ghana based on their results in the Basic Education Certificate Examination, and for students outside Ghana, based on a special entrance examination prepared by the school. Courses offered by the school include; Business, General Science, Home Economics, Technical, General Arts, and Visual Arts.[3]
Tamale senior high school is one of the prestigious senior high schools in Ghana and Northern region in particular. Hence the students refer to the school as the Northern light. Tamale Senior High School is the only senior high that has won the zonal championship twice in a role. Tamale Senior High School is the first and only senior high school in the Northern Region that has qualified for the Semi-final stage in the year 2021 in the National Science and Maths Quiz Competition.[4]
Tamale Senior High School is considered amongst institutions of the highest prestige in Ghana, due to its longstanding history predating independent Ghana, and its prominent alumni.[5] The school can count amongst its ranks; a head of State, two vice presidents of the fourth republic of Ghana, a speaker of parliament, two Justices of the Supreme Court of Ghana, two Chiefs of Defence Staff, and a host of government ministers and members of parliament.
History
Tamale Senior High School was founded by then British Colonial Administration as Government Secondary School, Tamale in 1951.[6] The school was developed from an already existing middle school called the Tamale Senior Boys School.[7][8] The school then became the first secondary school in then Northern Territories under the then British Colonial Administration.[1][9][10] The main objective of the establishment of the institution amongst others was to mitigate the widening gap of the human resource capacity between the North and the South of the then British Colony.[6] The school throughout its existence has gone through various name changes. In 1972, the name of the school was changed to Gbewaa Secondary School.[5] The name was later changed to Tamale Secondary School and now, Tamale Senior High School.[11]
Admissions
Tamale Senior High School was originally founded for students in the Northern territories but later opened to students in the south.[12][13][14] As a selective school, admissions are based on the results of applicants in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE). After the results are released, students gain admission through a computerized system that selects students who chose the school prior to writing their BECE based on their raw score. Due to this, students gain admission solely on merit. For students outside Ghana who want to attend the school, special entrance examinations are organized by the school to accept such students based on merit. After students who qualify are given admission, they are given an official prospectus which will help them know what is required of them as new students of the school.[3] Prior to the introduction of common national entry examinations, students from the Northern territories were selected based on specially prepared examinations on English and Arithmetic. Students who passed were selected by a local selection board and awarded the scholarships.[15] Also, following ongoing pressure and concerted efforts from the Northern Territories Council, both the Colonial Administration and later the Nkrumah Regime established the Special Northern Scholarship Scheme which enabled individuals from the Northern territories, who lacked secondary education but exhibited a strong desire and aptitude for higher studies, to gain admission to the school. These students were subsequently afforded the opportunity to pursue further education at the expense of the Central Government. Some of these students included John S. Nabila who later became Minister for Information and Tourism during the Limann regime.[16]
Student Population
In 1958, the school begun with twenty boys, but enrolled its first cohort of female students by 1958.[17] But as of December 15, 2021, the population of students of Tamale Senior High School was 3,638 with 1,682 females and 1,956 males. which is almost three-fold higher than the previous enrollment figure. The school is gradually reaching a point where it will record 50 percent enrollment for both males and females due to the high demand for the school.[18]
Curriculum and halls of residence
Courses provided by the school at its inception were; English, Mathematics, Science, History, Latin, Geography, Citizenship, Hygiene and Physiology, Agriculture, Music, Arts and Crafts. The Crafts taught were Cloth Weaving, Book Binding, Leather Work and Pottery.[19] Today, courses run by the school include; Business, General Science, Home Economics, Technical, General Arts, and Visual Arts. Students who apply for the school also choose the course they will want to offer prior to writing their BECE examination. The computerized system subsequently places students not only into the school but also into their preferred course.[3]
There are eight halls of residence in the school and they are;
A number of distinguished citizens who have served the world in a variety of positions have been created by the school over the years. Political notables include the President of the 3rd Republic of Ghana, Dr Hilla Limann, the late Former Vice President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, current Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alban Sumani Bagbin, and Dr. Mohammed Ibn Chambas.[23] Alumni of Tamale Senior High School are those old students who have excelled in their various fields of endeavor. Alumni of the school have played prominent roles in government and public service. Some of these old students are listed below;
Mahama Iddrisu, Minister for Transport and Communications (1983–1987), Minister for Defence (1987–1993 and 1997–1999), Minister for Interior (1996–1997)
Gilbert Seidu Iddi, Northern Regional Minister (1997-1998 and 2000–2001), Volta Regional Minister (1998-2000)
Joshua Alabi, Greater Accra Regional Minister (1997-1998 and 2000–2001), Northern Regional (1998-2000)
Mohammed Amin Adam, formerly Deputy Minister for the Northern Region, currently Minister of State for Finance and Member of parliament for Karaga (2021–)
2024: Qualified once again to the Semi-final stage of the Ghana National Science and Maths Quiz competition after beating St John's School and Accra Academy.[38] They face Koforidua Senior High School and Keta Senior High School (KETASCO) at the Semifinals of the competition where they fell shot with 24pts placing 3rd at the end of the contest.<[39]
