Accra Polytechnic set for technical university - Rector

All is set for the conversion of Accra Polytechnic into a technical university for the 2016/2017 academic year.

Professor Sylvester Achio, Rector, Accra Polytechnic, said the conversion would put the school in a strategic position to train highly-skilled human resource that would drive the nation’s socio-economic development.

He observed that all efforts were being made by management of the Polytechnic to ensure the smooth take off of the technical university in September.

Prof Achio made the disclosure in Accra at the formal signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Polytechnic and the Bureau of Market and Social Research Limited (BMSR Ltd).

The agreement, which is subject to biennial renewal, would provide industrial training for students from the Department of Mathematics and Statistics.

Prof Achio said, “Sometimes we are told that the sciences, the applied sciences and engineering are what are needed. But we sometimes forget that in the businesses and humanities, there is an element of practical hands on experience to attain.”

He said the MOU is the beginning of greater collaboration between the two institutions; which would lead to greater heights.

Mr Isaac Gwumah, the Chief Executive Officer of the BMSR Ltd, said the MOU would contribute to close the gap between industries and academia.

He appealed to tertiary institutions in the country to ensure that teaching assistants were exposed to industrial practice to enable them to gain experience; “so that when they eventually become lecturers, they would be able to deliver.”

Dr Alice Constance Mensah, the Head of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, lauded BMSR Ltd for the collaboration, adding that it would enable students to gain practical experience of the theories they learn in the classroom.