Accra Polytechnic which is located at Barnes Road in the central business district of Accra is hinged between the Novotel Hotel to the west, and the Lebanon House to the East. To the south of the Polytechnic is the Assembly Press of the Ghana Publishing Company Ltd. and to the north is the Accra Workers’ College. The premier polytechnic in Ghana was established in 1949 as a technical school and in 1957, commissioned as Accra Technical Institute. In 1963, the institute was declared Accra Polytechnic by the order of the first President of Ghana, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.

During the period under review, the Polytechnic offered the following technician and craft courses: Mechanical Engineering Technician Part I and II, Motor Vehicle Technician Part I and II, Refrigeration Technician Part I, Electrical Engineering Part I and II etc.

Unfortunately, although the new status of the Technical Institute as a Polytechnic requires that organizational and course structure is appropriately re-arranged, conditions remained the same. The Polytechnic therefore remained essentially as a secondary institution and ran courses that were mainly of higher education level.

The PNDC Law 321 of 1992, which became fully effective in 1993/94 academic year involved necessarily, the upgrading of courses and facilities in the Polytechnic to enable it provide middle-level manpower for national industries.

Since the inception of the new tertiary programmes, the Polytechnic has provided some Higher Diploma courses in various fields of specialization viz: Mechanical Eng. Electrical/Electronic Eng., Building Engineering, Secretarial and Business courses; Catering, Fashion Design, Science Laboratory Technology and Statistics among others.

The new administrative structure of Accra Polytechnic is to strive for excellence in teaching and research, by providing practical and professional oriented education and training that fosters problem solving, ethical awareness and a desire to undertake outstanding programmes of distinctive characteristics capable of having a magnetic effect throughout Ghana.

MISSION STATEMENT ---

The mission of Accra Polytechnic is to offer quality academic/practical programmes that are characterized by pedagogical competence, students’ accomplishments, professional development, applied research/scholarship and an environment conducive to teaching and learning.

Again, Accra Polytechnic is to provide the people of Ghana with a tertiary level education in Engineering, Applied Sciences, Arts and Management related fields capable of meeting the technological, scientific and social challenges of all times. Such education, we believe, would open up a lifelong learning and creative opportunities and provide educational and training experiences which would support the development of self-reliant graduates with entrepreneurial drives, equipped to succeed and contribute to the economic, social, technological and cultural development of the nation.

LONG-TERM OBJECTIVES ---

Based on the vision and mission of the Polytechnic, it is envisaged that by the year 2014 the Polytechnic will:

• Expand the number of HND programmes while introducing programmes in Master of Technology (M. Tech) and Doctor of Technology (D. Tech)
• Institute a well established Research and Development (R & D) department to co-ordinate research activities
• Institute a well established Distance Learning Centre as a way of extending Polytechnic education to many people
• Institute a well established formation of Alumni Association and use it as a vehicle for marketing the Polytechnic
• Have an effective and efficient Consultancy Unit