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Nkawkaw Senior High School, which was originally known as Nkawkaw Secondary School, has a rich history.

In 1969, when the government decided to convert the Methodist Training College at Nkawkaw into a Secondary School, the onus fell on Mr Victor Buer Titriku Nartey- Tokoli who was then heading the Nkwatia Training College to develop Nkawkaw Secondary from the ashes of the Methodist Training College.

Mr Victor Buer Titriku Nartey- Tokoli, a known disciplinarian and a stickler for excellence and hard-work, who later became a Reverend Minister of the Methodist Church of Ghana was tasked to lay the foundation for the new secondary school.

Rev. Victor Titriku Nartey-Tokoli was purposively chosen to lay the foundation for Nkawkaw Secondary School because of his record of accomplishment of being a trailblazer in laying the foundation for educational institutions.

In 1965, Rev. Victor Buer Nartey-Tokoli started the Nkwatia Training College, which had blossomed into a very good educational institution for the training of Teachers.

Rt. Rev. Nartey- Tokoli saw his ground-breaking work as a mission to convert the ashes of the Methodist Training College at Nkawkaw into a secondary school for holistic education mainly for students from poor families.

He had very minimal resources in terms of infrastructure, teachers and school facilities but the limited resources did not affect his determination to create opportunities for children from poor families to receive quality education to serve their nation.

Rt Rev. Victor Titriku Nartey-Tokoli took his message of “ come to Nkawkaw Secondary School as you are” to every mass forum such as churches and markets.

His target was the poor and those who could not dream of having access to Secondary school education. His message attracted driver mates, pupil teachers, farm labourers and school children from poor families to form the foundation of the school.

He used people that Ngugi Wa Thiongo describes as the “ Wretched of the Earth” to lay the foundation for quality but affordable education for people who otherwise would have been denied the opportunity for quality secondary education.

Mr Peter John Moss, a young British Volunteer of about 28 years who shared the vision of Rt. Rev Victor Nartey- Tokoli supported his course and mission.

Peter John Moss later became a Priest of the Anglican Church in the United Kingdom. Rt. Rev. Nartey-Tokoli and Rev. Peter John Moss and other dedicated teachers such as the late Yeboah Acheampong, G.O. K. Obeng ( GOKO) , the late Kumah , Rev. Anyemesem Misa, Mr Ansong Aboagye, the Late Nanor etc built a strong team to use Nkawkaw Secondary School (KAWSEC) now Nkawkaw Senior High School as a channel of hope and a catalyst for the development of many capable people who are excelling in many fields today .

The vision and conviction of those who laid the foundation of our great school is summed up in the School’s motto, “ Education for Service”.

We entered Kawsec as novitiates of life but left Kawsec prepared and armed with the conviction to develop our human capacities to serve our nation.

Unlike other privileged schools, we turned the initial challenges of our school into a rich grass-root experience which sharpened our coping strategies to manage difficult situations as we climbed the academic ladder and achieved professional laurels.

Kawsecans are thus distinguished from others by their humility, hard work, spirit of resilience and patriotism.

The rare experience at Kawsec has equipped us to cope with many difficult situations and conditions. We were trained on the principles of problem-solving education.

Achievements of Nkawkaw Senior High School (Kawsec)

The achievements of Kawsec in human capital development can be appreciated only when due consideration is given to the economic conditions of some of the students that formed the foundation of the school. Most of the students who were Day Students had to walk many miles to school.

For most of the pioneering students, our home environments were not conducive for learning.

Most of the Day Students did not have electricity, tables and chairs in their homes to aid learning at home and that affected our academic performance.

Rev Peter John Moss who was in charge of Academic performance and Career Counselling upon realising the poor academic performance of the Day Students, visited their homes and confirmed that most of the Day Students did not have assess to electricity and the environments in their homes were not conducive for learning.

When the school Authority realised this serious barrier in learning, they developed a creative strategy to address the problem. Rev. Peter John Moss, the British Volunteer and some Teachers visited the homes of the Day Students to assess the seriousness of the problem. Rt. Rev. Victor Buer Nartey-Tokoli, Rev. Peter John Moss and some of the Teachers negotiated with the owner of a defunct Restaurant/Drinking Spot in the central part of Nkawkaw and created a ‘Night School’ where the Day Students converged in the evenings to learn.

This strategy improved the academic performance of the Day Students. This was among the many creative strategies which the school management under the leadership of Rt. Rev. Victor Nartey-Tokoli developed to turn the school’s initial challenges into opportunities for those of us who were the pioneers.

Albert Einstein said that “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

Kawsec is now 50 years and those of us who have benefited from the holistic education based on the school’s motto “ Education for Service “ are coming together to celebrate 50 years of the school’s contribution to human capital development in Ghana.

A fair assessment of Kawsec’s achievements can be made only when it is done against the school’s background of limited infrastructure and foundation difficulties to promote teaching and learning.

The school began with an initial student population of 25 in 1969 and 7 Teachers and by the end of the year, the student population had increased to 70. Today, the student population of Nkawkaw Senior High School is 2,253 and a Teaching Staff Population of 133. The population of the Non-Teaching Staff of KAWSEC is around 63.

Driven by the spirit of patriotism and hard-work, Kawsecans have distinguished themselves in many areas of national endeavours including but not limited to public service, military , education , Human Resource Management , Banking , Politics, Chiefs , Nurses, Medical officers, Businessmen/Women, Trade Unions , Judges , Lawyers, Consultants , Lecturers etc .

The honour roll of Kawsecans is endless. Kawsecans who have distinguished themselves and influenced society in many ways include but not limited;

Brigadier General (rtd) Yeboah Murphy; Col. (rtd) Kofi Adorkor ; Col John Omari Ampadu , Director Army Operations , Army Headquarters; Professor Daniel Kwabena Twerefou , Department of Economics , University of Ghana ; Professor Nana Akua Amponsah, University of North Carolina, USA ; Emmanuel Yaw Atuobi Yeboah, Banker/Businessman ; Nana Afoani Tenkorang, Sanaahene of Kwahu Obomeng and Businessman ; Very Rev. Paul Adu , Director , Methodist Development & Relief Services; Rev. Mrs Cynthia Ameyaw Aidoo, Reverend Minister of the Methodist Church of Ghana; Felix Kyereme, Head of God’s Grace International School; Edith Asomani, Entrepreneur;

Dr Emmanuel Opoku, Deputy Chief Executive of Ghana Cocoa Board(COCOBOD) in Charge of Operations; Joseph Opong Aboagye, Chief Revenue Officer, Ghana Revenue Authority(Customs Division)-Tema Port; Samuel Larbi Amoah, Director of Education (rtd); Agyenim Boateng Addo, Assistant Chief Technical Officer , Land Commission(rtd); Fred Ofosu Baadu, Director of Education (rtd) ; Hon. Frederick Opare Ansah , MP for Suhum Constituency ; Dr Stella Agyenim Boateng , Motivational Speaker and HR Director of VRA; Justice Kofi Nyanteh Akuffo, High Court Judge; Rev. Father Canon Robert Adofo, Ethicist, Former Lecturer of St. Nicholas Theological Seminary and Parish Priest of St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church , Odorkor , Accra Diocese; Prince Ofosu Sefah, Deputy Director General (Operations), National Communications Authority; Hon. Moses Anim, MP for Trobu Constituency; Prof Daniel Kwasi Asare , Chief Research Scientist at Atomic Energy Commission/ Lecturer ; Johnson Yeboah Gyekye, former Principal of Methodist College of Education, Oda; Mrs Faustina Adofo Adjagar, CEO of First Choice Hair and Beauty ;Julius Acheampong , Former Warehouse Manager , Total Petroleum Ghana Limited ; Kwame Osei Danquah, Businessman ; Rose Nartey-Tokoli, Businesswoman ; Immanuel Nartey-Tokoli , CEO of Jekora Ventures ; Walters Yeboah Adofo , Chief Financial Officer of MiLife Assurance ; Theodore Nartey-Tokoli , CEO of Adipa Micro Finance; Kingsley Frimpong, Chartered Health Economist/Consultant; Nayram Kyei-Mensah, Entrepreneur; Rt. Rev. Alfred Appiah Andam, Bishop of the Wenchi Diocese of the Methodist Church of Ghana; Rt. Rev. Christopher Nyarko Andam, Bishop of the Kumasi Diocese of the Methodist Church of Ghana; Isaac Oduro-Twum of Peace FM; Rev. Arthur Yaw Prempeh of Obuoba FM; Nana Amma Serwa of Multimedia Group: Kofi Gyekye Tuffour of Oman FM/NET 2 TV; Esther Abankwa, Sports Journalist of Angel TV and Isaac Anim Appiagyei , Entrepreneur.

The Nkawkaw Senior High School has clocked 50 years. The Golden Jubilee would be celebrated by the Board of Governors, the Headmaster and Staff, PTA, Past and Current students of Nkawkaw Senior High School and the public under the theme, “ Fifty Years of Contributing to the development of Ghana through Education for Service: A Milestone for Reflections and Projections” from 4th to 9th November, 2019.

The climax of the celebration would be a grand durbar/ Speech and Prize-Giving Day on 9th October 2019.

H.E. Excellency, Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo would grace the occasion as the Special Guest of Honour with Nana Akuamoah Agyapong as the Special Guest.

Dr. Emmanuel Opoku and Mr Daniel Owusu-Koranteng who are past students of the school would be the Chairman and Guest Speaker respectively for the grand durbar.

The sons and daughters of Nkawkaw Senior High School from all walks of life would congregate to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of their alma mater and to give testimony to how our modest beginnings at Kawsec had propelled us to unimaginable heights to serve our nation.

We thank God for giving us the unique opportunity to be part of the Big and Prestigious Kawsec Family.

GREAT KAWSEC-GREAT PEOPLE

GREAT KAWSEC- FOREVER SHINE

TOKOLI’S KAWSEC -EDUCATION FOR SERVICE

The Writer, Daniel Owusu-Koranteng is the General Secretary of the Maritime and Dockworkers Union and Executive Director of Wacam. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Ghana Dock Labour Company (GDLC) and serves on other boards.

He is a member of the Steering Group of the Fair Practices Committee of the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF). He is the National President of the Past Students of Nkawkaw Senior High School.