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Our cherished alma mater’s 97th anniversary is being commemorated this year; a school with a strong foundation in many principles that have helped us persevere for so many years up until this point. Since its inception as a learning institution, it has become stronger because of every chance and challenge.

We have been putting a lot of effort into supporting the school over the past year in collaboration with other diaspora alumni groups. The school made the switch to a one-shift system in September 2021. Young, deserving girls continue to find hope in FSSG. As we prepare Sierra Leone’s future leaders, we will aim even higher. One of our objectives is to maintain a positive relationship between alumni and the school.

We are always looking for significant ways to support the requirements of our school and the well-being of the students. I implore all FSSG ex-pupils to get involved in the fundraising events so we can provide for Sierra Leone’s future leaders.

The plan asks for good management of the school, and appropriate facilities, including science laboratories with all necessary pieces of equipment, classrooms, and other amenities needed to boost achievement, given that the school has switched to a one-shift schedule. In a few years, we will be celebrating our centenary. Our goal is to get the building and all facilities in very good condition. Our association is planning to embark on a project to renovate and refurbish the health center at the school to provide emergency services to the pupils and staff at the school. This project is estimated to cost about $50,000.00. I want to appeal to our members and supporters to make generous contributions to support this venture.

We require your assistance to maintain our distinctive traditions since doing so will strengthen the FSSGian spirit, progress the institution, and improve the experience of all those connected to the Freetown Secondary School for Girls. As we try to restore the greatness of our school, let’s all try to give back in a way that will strengthen our influence and relevance within this association, using the abundance that this esteemed institution has bestowed upon us.

Over the years, our support has been sustained by your steadfast loyalty and help. Let’s keep working together to create an exciting future for our wonderful institution.

And finally, I implore all of my fellow FSSGians to become members of the Alumni Association. We can only have a successful alumni association if we all work together.

Play up, play up, and play the game.

Elizabeth Davies

President

 

FSSG: Our Beloved School

Many people of similar religious or cultural leanings came together and formed different “Committees of Citizens” having as their goal the opening of schools.  Some focused on the elementary level only, others on an “all age” institution – i.e. kindergarten through high school.  It was in this spirit of educational fervor, that the Freetown Secondary School for Girls (F.S.S.G.) was born.

One of the leaders in the group that established the F.S.S.G., was Miss Hannah Luke, who had just returned from studying in England. Miss Luke was full of ideas for the education of young girls, very much along the pattern of her experiences at the Portway Institute in England, where she had been trained.

Miss Luke put together a group of immediate family members and close friends, to plan for the establishment of the school that would provide a full and complete educational environment for girls of all ages. Included in this group, was Mrs. Maisie Osora, the English born wife of a Sierra Leonean Anglican clergyman. Mrs. Osora had been teaching at the Annie Walsh Memorial School, a secondary school for girls founded by the Church Missionary Society, the evangelical wing of the Church of England.

With 20 people contributing £25.00 (twenty-five pounds) each, an educational vision became a reality, when on January 20, 1926, the Freetown Secondary School for Girls opened its doors in a building at the corner of Garrison and Gloucester Streets (at the entrance of Victoria Park), with 20 girls as the foundation pupils.  Mrs. Osora was appointed Principal, and Miss Hannah Luke, as Vice Principal.  The F.S.S.G. was for many years, the only school that provided an educational program from Kindergarten through Secondary School.  This flexibility allowed the school to admit boys in the nursery and kindergarten departments.

Miss Luke, (who later became Mrs. Benka-Coker when she married a Barrister from the Gambia), took over the reins as Principal, when Mrs. Osora returned to England during the upheaval in Europe leading to World War II.  Mrs. Benka-Coker emphasized ‘African Culture’, and actively recruited pupils from all over West Africa, regardless of tribal or religious affiliation.  Students came from not only The Gambia, but also The Gold Coast, (now Ghana), and Nigeria.  Because of the presence of so many foreign students, the school also operated a boarding facility, and as a result, more spacious accommodations became imperative.  The then Colonial Governor allowed the school to occupy unused military buildings at Tower Hill, one of the foothills overlooking Freetown.

The onset of World War 11 made it necessary for the military to requisition the buildings, and in 1938, the school was forced to move to less spacious quarters.  The new temporary home was located at Oxford Street between George Street and Gloucester Street, almost adjacent to St. George’s Cathedral, the seat of the oldest Anglican Church in West Africa.

This did not allow for dormitories as well as classrooms, and the enrollment dropped precipitously.  The school continued to operate literally on a shoe string, and It is believed that for many months, the salaries of the teachers were paid by Mrs. Sarah Luke, the mother of Mrs. Benka-Coker.

Due to the resolve of Mrs. Benka-Coker, and her then Vice Principal Miss Lottie Hazeley, conditions slowly improved, due in large part to the school’s reputation for quality education and the dedication of the staff.  It began acquiring adjacent buildings, and the enrollment increased in proportion.  “My resolve” wrote Mrs. BenkaCoker then, “God being my helper, is to prepare all pupils, whatever their gifts may be, to use these gifts towards being more intelligent citizens, to offer their intelligent citizenship, and work toward the goal of becoming responsible adults, may they continuously develop intellectually and spiritually toward that ultimate end – complete, responsible citizenship.’

All during this period, Mrs. Benka-Coker’s dream was to acquire a permanent home for her school.  As a result of her irrepressible and indomitable spirit, she was able to secure a long term lease on an unused piece of waterlogged land (commonly called ‘Frog Pond’) in the Brookfields area of Freetown.  Construction of the school buildings was financed with a grant from the British Colonial Office, and loans from private individuals.

On Easter Monday, April 14th, 1952, the then Governor of Sierra Leone, Sir George Beresford-Stooke, formally opened the buildings.  On this historic occasion, Mrs. Benka-Coker ended her address (the only one she made at the new school), with the challenge: “Ex-pupils, this is a heritage I am handing over to you.  Are you ready to receive it?”

Mrs. Hannah Benka-Coker passed away on June 17th, 1952, a mere eight weeks after
realizing the culmination of her life’s work.  As a testament to the character and discipline instilled in the pupils who went through the school, the Ex-Pupils took up Mrs. Benka-Coker’s challenge, and through various fund raising efforts, a block of six spacious classrooms were added.  The ex-Pupils association in Freetown and in the diaspora have continued the tradition of fundraising for the school.

Source: Geocities archives via FSSG Webpage 2009

Our Vision, Mission, and Values

1. To work in close cooperation with the Board of Trustees, the Principal and Staff of the Freetown Secondary School           for Girls for the furtherance of the academic and social activities of the School, and the maintenance of discipline           among its pupils.

2.  To promote unity and cooperation among all Ex-Pupils of the School.

3.  To engage in regular fundraising for the support and maintenance of the Freetown Secondary School for Girls.

Who We Are

The FSSG Alumni Association Washington Metropolitan Branch comprises a group of concerned FSSGians who play an active role in supporting the school.

The Freetown Secondary School for Girls (FSSG) was founded on January 20, 1926. From its location in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, it has successfully educated thousands of girls across Africa.

Unlike other schools of its time, the school has a unique beginning as one of the first non-parochial, non-governmental schools started by Africans. This was the dream of the late Mrs. Hannah Benka-Coker, its founder and first vice principal.

The first principal was Mrs. Maise Osora, whose ideas were similar to those of Mrs. Hannah Benka-Coker for the new school. Mrs. Benka-Coker, together with nine others, six of them, women, contributed £25 (twenty-five pounds sterling), a total of £250 (two hundred and fifty) pounds sterling to start the brand “new society” school, as it was coined.

Our completed projects: the Staff Room, the Health Center, and the Science Building