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Akosombo International School was the first to be established. This was in 1962. It was to provide educational facilities at Kindergarten and Primary level for the children of workers (mostly expatriates), who were engaged in the construction of the Akosombo Dam.
The School at its inception was an interesting experiment in education. Of the 140 students who were enrolled in the School at that time, only 28 (i.e. 20%), were Ghanaian. The rest were foreigners from such diverse countries as Italy, United States of America, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Pakistan, the Netherlands Brazil and Portugal. All of these foreign students received tuition at AIS that enabled them to write examinations in their home countries.
With the completion of the Akosombo Dam project in 1966, the Akosombo International School was opened to the children/wards of all employees of the Volta River Authority. In 1968, a regular co-educational secondary department was added to the existing nursery and primary schools. Facilities were put in place to accommodate boarders. At its establishment, the secondary school department was intended to follow technical courses in order to take advantage of the numerous facilities in Akosombo for such pursuits (e.g. carpentry workshops, vehicle workshop, communication workshop, mechanical workshop, etc.) However, other courses such as General Science, General Arts and Home Management were added to the School's curriculum. In September 1990, a two-stream Junior Secondary School Department was introduced at Akosombo; and January 1994 saw the first intake of the three-stream Senior Secondary School in preparation for the phasing out of the then existing secondary school system.
1982 saw the further expansion of the facilities of the School with the opening of the Akuse Kindergarten and primary Schools, as the second stream of the Akosombo international School. The Akuse School was established to cater for the children/wards of VRA staff in charge of the hydro-electric facilities at Akuse. A Junior Secondary School department was added to Akuse School in September 2002.
Kyease kindergarten was set up previously to prepare pupils adequately for entry into the public primary schools in Akosombo. In September 2002, however, the Kyease kindergarten was
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expanded into a primary school due to increase in the population of the Akosombo township and the consequent increasing demand for admission to the primary school on the main campus.
In the year 1996, the VRA our parent company started work on its Thermal Power Project at Aboadze, near Takoradi. A new township was built for staff at Aboadze; and in November 1999, a one-stream Kindergarten and Primary School were established in the VRA Township to provide educational facilities for the new community. A Junior Secondary department set up at Aboadze in September 2001.
The first headmaster of the premier School at Akosombo was Mr. W.H.D. Ames, a Canadian. He was succeeded by other expatriate headmasters i.e. Mr. J.B. Morris, September 1963 to August 1966, and Mr. B.A. Seaman, August 1966 to July 1968. The first Ghanaian headmaster was the late Mr. P.D. Quartey Jnr., who from September 1968 until his retirement in December 1973 worked very hard to establish on a firm basis the Secondary Department of the school. The second Headmaster, Mr. B.A. Sam, was at post from January 1974, until his retirement in December 1998. Under Mr. B.A. Sam, Mr. N. Ohene-Okae and Mrs. G. Manieson-Annancy served as Assistant Heads responsible for Basic and Secondary Schools, respectively. Mrs. G. Manieson Annancy assumed the position of Headmistress from January 1999; and Messrs John K. Tawiah and Arnold K. Seshie were appointed as Assistant Heads.
Mr. N. Ohene-Okae, Assistant Headmaster, Basic Schools exercised oversight responsibility over both the Akosombo and Akuse Basic Schools. Ms. Mary Maud Beausoleil was appointed Supervisor at Akuse School from its inception until her retirement in 1995. Mr. Dan Cole was appointed Supervisor from September 1995 until his retirement in December 2000. Mr. Reuben Kugblenu is currently the Ag. Supervisor of the Akuse Basic Schools.
Mr. Arnold K. Seshie succeeded Mr. Ohene-Okae as Assistant Headmaster and had since exercised oversight responsibility over all VRA Basic Schools. At the Aboadze campus, however, Mr. Seth O. Oppong, is Supervisor since Nov. 1999.
In 2001, the VRA Schools were elevated to the status of a fully-fledged department within the VRA set-up. Mrs. Grace Manieson-Annancy was appointed its first Director, VRA Schools Department. In 2003 two Headmasters, Messrs Mr. John K. Tawiah ( Senior Secondary School ) and Arnold K. Seshie (Basic Schools), were appointed to assist the Director in the administration of the Schools.
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