Government High School, Nassau
{{Short description|High school in Nassau, Bahamas}}
{{coords|25.0483|N|77.3619|W|display=title}}
Government High School is a state secondary school in Nassau, Bahamas. At one time, it was a selective grammar school{{cite journal |last1=Bethel |first1=Keva M. |date=1996 |title=Educational Reform in the Bahamas: Part 1 |url=https://journals.sfu.ca/cob/index.php/files/article/view/23/20 |journal=International Journal of Bahamian Studies |volume=8 |page=30 |access-date=30 April 2021}} and one of the country's leading institutions.{{cite journal |last1=Bethel |first1=Keva M. |date=1997 |title=Educational Reform in The Bahamas: Part II: Pre-Independence Perspectives (1958-1973) |url=https://journals.sfu.ca/cob/index.php/files/article/view/29/26 |journal=International Journal of Bahamian Studies |volume=9 |page=40}}{{cite news |last1=Lothian |first1=Mike |title=Common Entrance [Exam] Ends in '75 |url=https://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00084249/03699/1x |access-date=30 April 2021 |agency=Tribune newspaper |date=23 August 1974}}
Early years as a selective school
Government High School became the Bahamas' first state school when it opened on 27 April 1925, providing for the education of blacks and girls who had been excluded from the colony's private schools.{{cite web |author1=K Kemp, J Dawson, & T Thompson |title=Government High School |url=http://www.ramblebahamas.org/items/show/3 |accessdate=12 October 2020}} The school was established as a result of concerted public lobbying.{{Cite book |last=Saunders |first=Gail |title=Race and Class in the Colonial Bahamas 1880-1960 |date=16 October 2017 |publisher=University Press of Florida |edition=Electronic |location=Gainesville, Florida |pages=132-133 |language=en |asin=B076PKNMM3}}
It was a selective state school that became known for educating a generation of middle-class brown and black Bahamians before and immediately after the country achieved universal suffrage in 1961.
Entry was open to students aged 11 to 18 who passed an entrance exam and fees were payable slightly less than the country's parochial schools.{{Cite web |last=Colonial Office |year=1950 |title=Annual Report on the Bahamas for the Year 1949 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112106896084&seq=135 |access-date=2024-12-27 |website=HathiTrust |publisher=HM Stationery Office, London |page=21 |language=en}} Initially intended for teacher training, the school prepared students for Cambridge exams and later the Cambridge Overseas School Certificate.
Modern comprehensive school
The school now exists as one of many public comprehensive secondary schools on the island of New Providence.
Headmasters and headmistresses
- Albert Woods, from 1925{{cite book |last1=Fawkes |first1=Sir Randol |title=The Faith that Moved the Mountain |date= |year=2003 |edition=Memorial |location=Nassau, Bahamas |language=en}}
- Dr. A. Deans Peggs, 1942-1958
- Cecil Valentine Bethel, first Bahamian headmaster of GHS, from 1964{{cite news |title=Appointed to the Order of the British Empire: Cecil Valentine Bethel for services to the Government High School, Bahamas. |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/44210/supplement/21 |access-date=1 May 2021 |agency=The London Gazette |issue=44210 |date=30 December 1966 |page=21}}
- Hugh Gordon Sands, first alumni to become headmaster
- Anatol Rodgers, third Bahamian head and first headmistress, 1971-1975{{cite news |title=Caribbean academic giant to deliver annual Anatol Rodgers Memorial Lecture |url=https://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00084249/03030/6x |agency=Tribune newspaper |publisher=Dupuch Publications |date=6 November 2007}}
Notable alumni
- Paul Adderley, former Attorney-General of the Bahamas
- Sir Gerald Cash, former Governor-General of the Bahamas
- Dame Ivy Dumont, former Governor-General of the Bahamas
- Sir Randol Fawkes, trade unionist and Cabinet minister
- Sir Cyril Fountain, lawyer and judge
- Hubert Ingraham, former Prime Minister of the Bahamas
- Sir Kendal Isaacs, former Solicitor-General, Attorney General, and Leader of the Opposition{{cite news |title=Obituary of Sir Kendal Isaacs |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/317570338 |access-date=1 May 2021 |agency=The Daily Telegraph |date=5 June 1996 |location=London (UK) |page=29|id={{ProQuest|317570338}} }}
- Sir Lynden Pindling, first Prime Minister of an independent Bahamas{{cite news |title=Obituaries: Lynden O. Pindling; Led the Bahamas to Independence |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-aug-27-me-11217-story.html |access-date=30 April 2021 |agency=Los Angeles Times |date=27 August 2000}}
- Dame Joan Sawyer, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Bahamas{{Cite news |last=Dorsett |first=Sidney |date=12 September 1973 |title=3 More Attorneys Called to the Bahamas Bar |url=https://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00084249/03444/images/0 |access-date=10 January 2025 |work=The Tribune |pages=1 |quote=}}
- Stafford Sands, businessman and Cabinet Minister
- Sir Orville Turnquest, former Governor-General of the Bahamas
- Sir Cecil Wallace Whitfield, Cabinet Minister and Leader of the Opposition
- Frank Watson, former Deputy Prime Minister of the Bahamas