Nkrumah Speaks To Students of Ghana College

Nkrumah Speaks To Students of Ghana College
Tamale, October 23, 1960 In accordance with the Second Development Plan which I launched last year, and with the assistance of the Ghana Educational Trust which I established l2 years ago, Secondary Schools are springing up all over the country. Today, we are witnessing the opening of the first of these schools built in this Region. Where you had only one Secondary School, there will be at least five before the end of our Second Five Year Development Plan Period. Thus the small seed which I sowed in those pre-independence hectic days of 1948 is bearing fruit. The impact of this development on secondary education and on the standard of education generally in the country has confounded the imagination. But we have met here this afternoon to witness a ceremony that provides yet another positive evidence of our faith in the future of our country. We are today steadfastly dedicated to the social and economic and industrial reconstruction of the country. Electricity and Agriculture are the two cornerstones of industrialisation. We recognise the importance of power, hence, our hope for the Volta River Project. We also recognise the extreme importance of agriculture, hence, our impatience to introduce modern method for the diversification of our agriculture. We hope to introduce in Tamale in September, 1961, a special course for teachers of rural science. These teachers will be Certificate "A" teachers and will follow a full year’s course in the Government Training College, Tamale. They will learn up-to-date methods of agriculture and will return to infuse a new method to the teaching of agriculture in their schools. Those who enter here must be infused with the spirit to work hard and learn fast. Outside these walls, the country is waiting for you. I know that it is given to few to advance the frontiers of knowledge, or to make a lasting contribution to literature, philosophy and scholarship. The majority of you here will be ordinary members of our new society whose influence and activity will bring to fruition the culture, the social transformation and the political institutions of the new nation. Culture is universal, but every country adds a specific flavour and a unique contribution to the common heritage. We have had for several centuries, the impact of the outside world on the ancient cultural traditions of Africa. Now the African personality is awakening and like a giant refreshed after a long sleep, to assert the place of Africa in the world and in the destiny of mankind. I hope that the staff and the students of this College will enjoy their work and their studies. There lies the secret wisdom of the Ages. Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, I now declare the Ghana College of Tamale open.