The Accra Technical University (ATU) was established in 1949 as a

Technical School A vocational school (alternatively known as a trade school, or technical school), is a type of educational institution, which, depending on the country, may refer to either secondary or post-secondary education designed to provide vocationa ...

in Ghana and commissioned in 1957 as Accra Technical Institute before being converted into a Polytechnic in 2007 by the

Parliament of Ghana The Parliament of Ghana is the unicameral legislature of Ghana. It consists of 276 members, who are elected for four-year terms in single-seat Electoral district, constituencies using a first-past-the-post voting system. History Legislature, L ...

. It was later given a university status, becoming Accra Technical University (ATU) in 2016. The school is located in Accra, the capital city of Ghana. Accra Technical University focuses on technical and vocational education. The school offers a range of academic programs including applied sciences, engineering, business, arts, and design.

History

Establishment

Accra Technical University was the first Technical University to be established. It was established in 1949 as a Technical School and commissioned in 1957 as Accra Technical Institute. In 1963, the institute was renamed Accra Polytechnic, by the orders of the then President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. By the Polytechnic Law of 1992 (PNDC 321), which became fully operative in the 1993/1994 academic year, Accra Technical University was elevated to a tertiary status. The institution was then placed under the Higher Education Council with autonomy to award Higher National Diplomas (through the National Board for Professional and Technician Examinations. With the passage of the PNDC Law 321, the university upgraded its programmes and facilities in it to provide middle-level manpower to revolutionise and feed the growing Ghanaian industries. Notwithstanding the difficulties that characterized the sudden change over from secondary to a tertiary status, Accra Technical University made a tremendous progress in its review and expansion of curricula to suit contemporary needs. Accra Technical University began to offer Higher National Diploma (HND) programmes in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical/Electronic Engineering, Building Technology, Civil Engineering, Furniture Design and Production, Secretaryship and Management Studies, Bilingual Secretaryship and Management Studies, Accountancy, Marketing, Purchasing and Supply, Hotel Catering and Institutional Management, Fashion Design and Textiles, Mathematics and Statistics, and Science Laboratory Technology. The technician courses offered by the Polytechnic were maintained.

University status

In 2007 the Polytechnic Act (Act 745) was promulgated and it repealed PNDC Law 321 of 1992. This Act has granted the Polytechnics autonomy to award the Higher National Diplomas (HND), Diplomas and other Certificates accredited by the National Accreditation Board (NAB), and award Degrees subject to the conditions that the council of that Polytechnic may determine. Accra Technical University currently, offers ten (10) Degree (Btec) and fifteen (15) HND Programmes. These programmes are run in three schools. As a tertiary institution, Accra Technical University is governed by a Council established under the Technical University Act 2016 (Act 745).

Campus

The campus is located at Barnes road, Accra

Academics

The university has five faculties.

Faculty of Engineering

* Department of

Mechanical Engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

* Department of

Electrical Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

/Electronic Engineering * Department of

Civil Engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

Faculty of Built Environment

Department of Interior Design and Upholstery Technology * Department of Building Technology

Faculty of Applied Sciences

Applied Mathematics Applied mathematics is the application of mathematics, mathematical methods by different fields such as physics, engineering, medicine, biology, finance, business, computer science, and Industrial sector, industry. Thus, applied mathematics is a ...

and

Statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a s ...

* Science Laboratory Technology *

Computer Science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

* Medical Laboratory Technology

Faculty of Applied Arts

* Department of Hotel Catering & Institutional Management (HCIM) * Fashion Design & Textile Department

Faculty of Business

* Accountancy and Finance * Management and Public Administration * Procurement and Supply Chain Management. * Marketing

HND Programmes

With the upgrade in status, the technician courses previously offered by the school were maintained, and Higher National Diploma (HND) programmes in the following fields were added: *

* Electrical/Electronic Engineering *

Building Technology Architectural engineering or architecture engineering, also known as building engineering, is a discipline that deals with the engineering and construction of buildings, such as environmental, structural, mechanical, electrical, computational, e ...

* Furniture Design and Production *

Secretaryship A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, program evaluat ...

and Management Studies * Bilingual Secretaryship and Management Studies *

Accountancy Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the process of recording and processing information about economic entities, such as businesses and corporations. Accounting measures the results of an organization's economic activities and conveys ...

Marketing Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of Business administration, business management and commerce. Marketing is usually conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or ma ...

* Purchasing and Supply * Hotel Catering and Institutional Management *

Fashion Design Fashion design is the art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction, and natural beauty to clothing and its accessories. It is influenced by diverse cultures and different trends and has varied over time and place. "A fashion design ...

and

Textile Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...

s * Mathematics and

* Science Laboratory Technology * Medical Laboratory Science

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Polytechnics in Ghana Education in Accra Universities and colleges established in 1949 1949 establishments in Gold Coast (British colony) Universities in Ghana Technical universities and colleges Public schools in Ghana