St. Joseph’s Training College like all rivers of academic knowledge started as trickles from its remote sources. From a modest beginning with the first crop of 21 men as students and and three members of staff in 1948, today, the college can boast of population of 900 students (men and women) and 42 members of teaching staff and also having trained several thousands of teachers who have served and continue to serve the needs of the length and breadth of the nation.

HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL

The official name of the school is Our Lady of Apostles Girls’ Secondary School, commonly known as OLA Girls’ Secondary School. It is the first all-girls school in the then Brong Ahafo Region.

The school was founded by the Paramount Chief of Kenyasi II, Odeneho Dadeako Kwabena Nsiah-Ababio II, his elders, and the youth. They aimed to establish a girls’ secondary school in their area to support young girls in acquiring formal education. To achieve this dream, they approached the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sunyani, Most Rev. James Owusu (of blessed memory), who in turn, contacted the OLA sisters.   

Responding to the bishop’s call, the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles (OLA SISTERS), a Catholic Missionary Order dedicated to educating and empowering African women, established and ran the school. On September 27, 1974, the school opened its doors with only thirty-four (34) girls. It was later absorbed into the government public system in September 1976.

Due to the lack of classrooms and dormitory blocks at the time, Opanin Kofi Amoah generously offered one of his houses to accommodate the students, while they attended classes at the former GES district office. As the student population grew and the classroom block was completed at the current site, the education office was converted into a dormitory. The Chief donated a vast piece of land on which the school is currently situated. The first classroom block was built through the communal efforts of the community, with financial support from Odeneho Dadeako Kwabena Nsiah-Ababio II. The first dormitory block was completed in September 1988, and the students moved into it in the same year.

OLA Girls’ Secondary School prides itself on its discipline, inclusiveness, and commitment to providing every girl child with the opportunity to achieve her God-given talents through perseverance and dignity. The school currently offers four courses – Home Economics, Business, Science, and General Arts. From its humble beginnings with thirty-four (34) girls, the school now has a population of over one thousand and eight hundred (1800) students from all over Ghana and beyond.