We frequently hear tales of how people like Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and Dr. Kofi Abrefa Busia were able to continue their education in Britain thanks to scholarships, as well as their subsequent adventures.
The exploits of female Ghanaians during the Gold Coast era are something we don’t hear much about.
Similar to Dr. Nkrumah, Rosina Konuah and Elsie Sowah were awarded scholarships to study in Britain for their intelligence.
Elsie Sowah and Rosina Konuah, who both graduated from Achimota Senior High in 1940, have been close friends for more than 86 years.
Oldachimotan.org claims that after graduating from Achimota School, the two women were admitted to the newly opened Dispensary School at Korle Bu after first being turned away due to their gender.
The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology’s pharmacy degree program originated from the four-year curriculum they were admitted to (KNUST).
The two women, who completed the curriculum satisfactorily, are now Ghana’s first female pharmacists.
Rosina Konuah claimed she earned a scholarship to continue her studies in the UK whereas Elsie Sowah stated she entered the public service (a maternity hospital) right after graduating in an interview on GBC that GhanaWeb watched (UK).
After a few years, the two reconnected in the UK where Sowah had also received a scholarship and they were both studying nursing.
The two women said they will never forget being the first two women to obtain scholarships overseas and the adventures that followed, despite the scary experience they had traveling to the UK.
“I traveled to the UK to continue my education. I went there to take a nursing and SR course. Though I fared well, I missed working in Ghana.
Being the first women from the Gold Coast to be sent to Britain to take a course was an accomplishment, and Rosina Konuah and I liked it.