Brief History
The Milton Margai Technical University has over the past several decades experienced remarkable institutional transformation and renewal, growing from an institution training teachers for primary and lower forms of secondary schools into a full-fledged technical university offering degree programmes in Education, Engineering, Pure and Applied Sciences, Hotel, Tourism and Nutritional Sciences, Social Sciences and Business and Management Studies.
The institution started as the teacher training department at Fourah Bay College which was later closed and moved near the present location of Parliament building and established as the Freetown Teachers Training College. In 1959 construction at the present site at Goderich started and the doors of the institution were opened to the first cohort of 59 students by the Governor General Sir Henry Lightfoot Boston in the presence of the first Prime Minister of Sierra Leone Sir Milton Augustus Strieby Margai in whose honour the college was renamed the Milton Margai Teachers Training College (MMTTC).
Until 1967 the college trained teachers for the award of the Teachers Certificate (TC) and Teachers Advanced Certificate (TAC) for the primary and junior forms of secondary schools respectively. In 1967 a new three-year program was introduced; the curriculum was restructured and both the TC and the HTC were phased out and replaced with the Higher Teachers Certificate (HTC) and accordingly the college was again renamed the Milton Margai Teachers College (MMTC).
Witnessing remarkable developments as the premier teacher preparation institution in the nation between 1967 and 1995 and in response to the needs of the 6-3-3-4 system of education introduced in 1995, the college was upgraded to a degree-granting institution affiliated to both Fourah Bay College and Njala University College. The introduction of the Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) degree programme required significant restructuring of the curriculum which meant a change in the depth and breadth of the education offered, and the name was changed yet again to Milton Margai College of Education (MMCE) to reflect this.
Following an Act of Parliament in 2001, Milton Margai College of Education merged with the Freetown Technical Institute (FTI) at Congo-Cross, and the Hotel and Tourism Training Institute (HTTI) at Brookfields to become the Milton Margai College of Education and Technology (MMCET). This latest restructuring transformed the college to a Polytechnic.
The University status was achieved on 31st December 2021 after the University's Act 2021 received Presidential assent making the institution a full-fledged University. The Act became operational when the first Chancellor of the University was inaugurated on 11th November 2021.
The University Headquarters and Secretariat are located at the Goderich Campus which also hosts the Faculties of Education, Pure and Applied Sciences, a department in the Engineering Faculty, part of the Business and Management Studies and the Social Sciences.
The Congo-Cross Campus hosts the Faculties of Engineering and part of the Business and Management Studies whilst the Faculty of Hotel, Tourism and Nutritional Sciences and a department in Pure and Applied Sciences are housed at the Brookfields Campus.
Key Facilities
Past Principals & Chancellors
| Leader | Tenure | Legacy of Service |
|---|---|---|
|
Prof. Philip John Kanu
Vice-Chancellor & Principal
|
2018 – Present | Spearheaded the historic institutional transition from a Polytechnic status (MMCET) into a full-fledged Technical University following the 2021 Universities Act. |
|
Mr. David O. Carew
Chancellor
|
2021 – Present | Inaugurated as the university's historic first Chancellor, overseeing foundational administrative governance and modernization strategies. |
|
Dr. Saidu Kanu
Principal
|
2010 – 2018 | Expanded technical, mechanical, and vocational program offerings across multi-campus networks while driving deeper curriculum integration. |
|
Dr. Dennis Kargbo
Principal
|
1990s – 2006 | Steered the college through complex postwar educational reforms, upgrading the institution to grant degrees and overseeing its merger into a Polytechnic in 2001. |