Academic City: Changing the narrative of University education in the sub-region

In the late 2019, news broke of an outbreak of a deadly virus called the Coronavirus (COVID- 19) in China. The virus has since spread very fast around the world, currently affecting about 199 countries, including 47 in Africa.

As the spread of the COVID-19 continues across the world, many questions remain unanswered, not least what is going to happen to those thousands of final year senior high school and A’ Level, Cambridge and IB students who are seeking to pursue tertiary education this year.

The West African Examination Council on March 19, announced the suspension of this year’s WASSCE until further notice. According to the Council, the suspension is in compliance with the negative impact of the novel and deadly COVID-19 pandemic and protocols put in place by governments of member countries.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemonium, The Guardian reports that the UK government is considering imposing cap on university admissions this year. This implies that students currently going through the application process are set to have their choices restricted. It also means some students will not be able to attend universities they have been offered a place. With the deadly virus spreading widely across most of the study destinations for African students (Europe and US) and no certainty regarding how long the pandemic will last, it is obvious the dreams of many prospective students will be dashed. However, the dream of acquiring a world- class tertiary education is still possible with Academic City University College, a premium Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) and Entrepreneurial local tertiary education institute.

Academic City’s fully digitized state-of-the-art campus is situated at Haatso, a suburb of Accra – Ghana. It has a diverse academic community of students, faculty as well as staff from across the world. The ultra-modern campus offers small class sizes in an environment that emphasizes one- on-one attention. Academic City prides itself on educating ‘Future Ready Problem Solvers’, and their delivery of online education echoes that. Utilizing a low student to faculty ratio, Academic City has been able to create an environment of online delivery that is both interactive and fun for students and faculty. The faculties strong agility in delivering world-class education manifested in their seamless transition to online education, in the wake of COVID-19 global crisis, is proving to be highly effective.

The university offers elite undergraduate degree programmes in Engineering, Information Technology, Business Administration and Communication Arts. The programmes are carefully and strategically designed taking into consideration world class STEM education to develop students to become more practical, hands-on and productive.

Prof. Fred McBagonluri, President of Academic City remarked “Our teaching and learning methodology promotes unrestrictive ideation and creative freedom among students, giving wings to their creativity and imagination to solve complex challenges in an innovative way.”

At Academic City, innovation and entrepreneurial thinking are deemed core to a student’s foundational learning and development, and hence are designed into its programmes to create leaders of thought and initiators of ideas. The university has one of the best equipped STEM workshops in Ghana furnished with real industry machinery and equipment to offer students a first-hand experience of how these machines operate. Academic City is currently working on designing and manufacturing ventilator prototypes, with industry specialists and students to help combat COVID-19 at its state-of-the-art engineering workshop.

A report by the World Economic Forum has projected that Robotics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) will take over about 30% jobs in the next decade. As a forward-thinking educational institution, Academic City is on the verge of becoming the first university in Ghana to offer degrees in AI and Robotics.

According to Prof. Fred McBagonluri, President of Academic City “We have submitted all the necessary documentations to University of Mines and Technology, Tarkwa which is our affiliate for review.

Hopefully, we will get the approval from the National Accreditation Board on time to commence in the next academic year.”

As an educational institution committed to become a leading teaching, learning and research centered technology and entrepreneurship driven institute, Academic City has established a partnership with Worcester Polytechnic Institute, USA. Among other recent accolades, WPI was ranked among the top colleges and universities offering students the best internships and science lab facilities, not to mention a first-of-its-kind bachelor’s degree in robotics engineering.

The partnership will also provide a cross-cultural learning experience for students of Academic City, allowing them to start in Ghana and study abroad in the USA during their Junior and Senior years.

Academic City since its inception has proven its resolve to change the narrative for higher education in Africa and is committed to providing the best education attainable anywhere in the world, whether it be through online or blended or in contact learning.

It is indeed the fastest developing premium university striving, against all the unprecedented odds to be the best in Ghana and throughout the African continent. Students and parents, amongst all this global uncertainty, Academic City is here for you.