St. Augustine's College (Cape Coast)


St. Augustine’s College is an all-male academic institution in Cape Coast, Ghana. The school started at Amissano, a village near Elmina, in 1930. The Roman Catholic institution was established to serve as a training college and seminary. The school was named after St. Augustine of Hippo. The motto of the college is Omnia Vincit Labor, meaning "Perseverance conquers All".The school has a total of 11 houses.

History

St. Augustine's is the first catholic institution in the training of male teachers. It is also the first catholic second cycle school to be built in Gold Coast,. St. Augustine’s College is the biggest catholic senior high school in Ghana to date. The college ground and playing fields cover an area of about 1.30 acres. It is bounded by Fosu Lagoon/Adisadel Estates to the North, St. Augustine’s Practice J.H.S., the Catholic Education Unit and Archbishop’s House to the West, the Cape Coast metropolitan Hospital and part of the Fosu Lagoon to the East and the Atlantic Ocean to the South. It is about 1.8 km from Cape Coast Town Hall and about 2.3 km from the West gate of University of Cape Coast. The school has a student population of about 1,900 and a faculty number of about 90.
On 6 August 1933, the Roman Catholic Church and the Bishop of Cape Coast Vicariate Monsignor W. T. Porter felt the need to have a separate Roman Catholic school and Cape Coast was found to be the most suitable location. A commemorative foundation stone was laid in late 1935 at the present site. Fr. Maurice B. Kelly, the Dean of the Training College at Amissano which is now St. Teresa’s Seminary, Amisano, became the first Head Dean or Headmaster.

Culture

The Dean, Professors, Senior Student Counsel/Prefect, the Dining Hall Counsel/Prefect and the Chapel Counsel/Prefect and their assistants are all Roman Catholic. The Anniversary/Ceremonial Day of the school takes place on the Saturday nearest St. Patrick’s Day, which falls around the second or third week in March.
St. Augustine’s College, popularly known as "AUGUSCO", calls its old students "APSUNIANS"
Due to the historical association and their common catholic antecedents, there is a tendency for Holy Child High School, Ghana old students and St. Augustine’s old students to get married. The church believes marriage between old students of the two schools will perpetuate the Catholic traditions.

Student body

The population of the school is roughly 2000. Day students account for less than 2% of enrollment. St. Augustine's College is known for its general arts, business and science programs.
The college continues to educate Ghana's elite, and has a para-military cadet program which prepares students to enroll in the Military Officers Academy. Many students follow family tradition by enrolling at the school. Admission is highly competitive, perhaps the boys' institution with most annual applications, and includes a scholarship program for disadvantaged students.
It has exchange programs with foreign institutions such as the German Goethe Institute and AFS Intercultural Program.
The students are among the highest performing in the WAEC exams and it has won the most of the yearly inter-schools athletic competitions. There is a rivalry with Mfantsipim School in Cape Coast. Holy Child School is considered the sister school as it is also Catholic.
St. Augustine's College are two time winners of the National Science and Mathematics Quiz. Winners in 2007 and 2019. In the 2007 edition of the National Science and Mathematics Quiz the college won, and two out of the school's three contestants represented Ghana. Team three won the West African Science and Mathematics Quizzes.

Houses

The college has ten houses providing room and board, named after Catholic Saints with the exception of Kelly and Glynn's houses which are named after two of the college's founding Catholic monks.
St. Theresa’s House is named after Teresa of Ávila and is the oldest of the houses. Teresa of Ávila, also called Saint Teresa of Jesus, baptized as Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda y Ahumada, was a Spanish mystic, Roman Catholic saint, Carmelite nun, author during the Counter Reformation, and theologian of contemplative life through mental prayer. She was a reformer of the Carmelite Order and is considered to be a founder of the Discalced Carmelites along with John of the Cross.
This house sits at the edge of the school quadrangle and has two entrances.
St. George’s House, named after Saint George, is on the second floor of the same building as St. Luke's House.
Saint George was a soldier in the Roman army who later became venerated as a Christian martyr.
St. Luke’s House, named after Luke the Evangelist, is on the ground floor of the same building that houses St. George's.
Luke the Evangelist is one of the Four Evangelists — the four authors of canonical Gospels of Jesus Christ. Luke was a native of the Hellenistic city of Antioch in Syria. The early church fathers ascribed to him authorship of both the Gospel according to Luke and the book of Acts of the Apostles, which formed a single literary work, referred to as Luke–Acts.
St. Steven's House, named after Saint Stephen, is on the first floor of the same building that houses St. Patrick’s.
Stephen or Stephan, traditionally venerated as the Protomartyr or first martyr of Christianity, was according to the Acts of the Apostles a deacon in the early church at Jerusalem who aroused the enmity of members of various synagogues by his teachings.
St. Patrick’s House, named after Saint Patrick, is on the ground floor of the same building that houses St. Steven’s.
Saint Patrick was a 5th-century Romano-British Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of Ireland, along with Saints Brigit and Columba. He is also venerated in the Orthodox Church as Equal-to-the-Apostles.
St. Peter’s House, named after Saint Peter, is on the first floor of the same building that houses Glynn House.
Saint Peter, also known as Simon Peter, Simeon, or Simōn, according to the New Testament, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ, leaders of the early Christian Church..
Glynn House, named after Reverend Father Glynn, is on the ground floor of the same building that houses St. Peter's.
St. Joseph’s House, named after Saint Joseph, is on the first floor of the same building that houses St. John’s.
St. John’s House, named after John the Evangelist, is on the ground floor of the same building that houses St. Joseph’s.
Kelly House is named after Reverend Father Maurice Kelly, first Dean and Headmaster of the College.
Nduom House was financed and constructed by an alumnus Paa Kwesi Nduom.

Participation in inter schools competitions

The college won the finals of the 2019 edition of the Ghana National Science and Maths Quiz. This was the second time the college had emerged winners of the competition, after having won it for the first time in 2007.
The College also won the 2016 edition of the Sprite Ball Championship.

Notable alumni