By Politico Staff Writer
Milton Margai College of Education and Technology (MMCET), together with the Eastern Polytechnic, will soon be transformed into Technical Universities, Politico has learnt.
A letter addressed to the Chairman of the Tertiary Education Commission from the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Technical and Higher Education confirmed the Minister’s acceptance of recommendations contained in an earlier report on the Assessment of the two institutions for university status.
The letter, a copy of which was seen by Politico, states that that a financial proposal for the transformation of both institutions to university will soon be submitted to the Ministry of Finance for consideration since, according to the letter, the Technical and Higher Education Minister had already held consultation with the Minister of Finance and officials at the Tertiary Commission, for the establishment of the two universities through Statutory Instrument. It was also revealed that following a meeting between officials of both the Ministry of Technical and Higher Education and the Tertiary Education Commission, a Committee is to be constituted that will work out an Implementation Plan in consultation with relevant parties.
First called Milton Margai Teachers College, after Sierra Leone’s first Prime Minister, Sir Milton Margai, MMCET, with campuses in the west end of Freetown, was founded in 1963 to prepare graduates with Teachers Certificate and Teachers Advanced Certificate. A new three year course was introduced in 1967 that saw the phasing out of the earlier two certificates and the issuance of Higher Teachers Certificate (HTC) to graduates. The college introduced its first degree programme of Bachelors in Education (B.Ed.) in 1995.
In the year 2000, the college merged with the Freetown Technical Institute at Congo Cross in Freetown and the Hotel and Tourism Institute, Brookfields, also in Freetown, thus becoming a polytechnic.
On the other hand, the Eastern Polytechnic, which has campuses in Kenema, Bunumbu in Kailahun and Woama in Kono, was founded in 2001.
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