The Milton Margai College of Education and Technology (MMCET) polytechnic on Tuesday 9th April 2019 commissioned the newly-renovated hotels, toilets, the college’s website and table tennis all for the welfare of students at the Great Hall of the Goderich campus.
In her welcome statement, Mrs. Alima Jumu, Head of the Brookfields campus (Hotel Tourism and Training Center), revealed that the Acting Principal, Dr. Philip John Kanu has mobilized significant resources to rebrand the college including painting of the buildings, renovation of the library, a modern science laboratory equipped with equipment, chemicals and reagents and electrification of the campus, especially at night.
The renovated hotels include Berthus Wilson, Sylvester Renner, Femi Taylor, Harry Sawyer, Elizabeth Hirst and Tunde Benka-Coker.
The contractor, Mr. Mathias Brima, Managing Director of COMTECH Solutions appealed to the students to use the facilities properly and take ownership of them and to contact him for any problems revealing that the modern toilets cost over a million Leones per unit.
The Chief Technical Adviser of the website (Alhfan Adaptive Tech ICT Solutions in partnership with BMCC UK) enlightened that the address for the website is www.mmcet.edu.sl and can be accessed through Facebook, twitter and instragram revealing that some of the features of the website are the popular courses offered in the college, brochures, the three campuses of the polytechnic, distance learning, news and informed that students can download the free guide.
He also encouraged students to send in their comments, suggestions and contributions that would be published on the website.
The Acting Principal of the college, Dr. Philip John Kanu thanked God Almighty for making the day possible, reiterated his commitment to the development of the institution and recalled that since his appointment his priority has always been to make students comfortable and improve their welfare.
He also disclosed that a second website would soon be launched and that by the next academic year, students would apply online affirming that government is passionate about institutions of higher learning going online, that students offering science subjects are entitled to automatic scholarships including members of the armed forces in Teacher Training Colleges and children of teachers who have taught for 10 years and above.
He went on to state that the government of President Julius Maada Bio is sincerely committed to improve the country through human resource development, that his administration has a lot of initiatives and that next year, admission into the college would be stiff with English Language being compulsory and commended the Ministry of Technical and Higher Education for its support without which the college would not have made such progress.
The Deputy Minister of Technical and Higher Education, Dr. Turad Senesie observed that students are in a jubilant mood, assured that government would support students to interact freely within the confines of the law articulating that the New Direction is to change the mindset of Sierra Leoneans until there is a change for them to see the country as a national asset for future generations.
He continued that they would respect the people who voted them into office as they would leave office one day and condemned the practice of students serving as bag carriers for politicians lamenting that even the educated justify the wrongs of politicians affirming that the New Direction is for Sierra Leoneans to move away from the old practices.
According to Dr. Turad Senesie, the New Direction is people-centered, that government would experiment new models asserting that one should not like the SLPP but its development aspirations pointing out that unlike the SLPP where knowledge is overflowing, there is a knowledge gap in other parties.
He continued that the methodology of the New Direction is persistent resistance to make sure that there is a change otherwise they would force people to change as government wants results, deliverables and performance and not excuses or explanations informing that government is introducing other policies to ensure quality assurance in the educational system.
According to the Deputy Minister, students would soon start assessing lecturers while senior lecturers would assess the junior ones, that the Ministry wants a curriculum that meets the demands of the job market and affirmed that the Ministry wants the best from students and lecturers.
He also observed that bad governance is responsible for the deplorable state of the colleges in the country, that at the moment, Milton Margai should have modern teaching and learning equipment and facilities like projectors/video conference halls, a computer science laboratory, commended Dr. Philip John Kanu for doing a lot for the college pointing out that government wants a holistic development of the country and appealed to Sierra Leoneans to just “appreciate the SLPP. You will metamorphose” and for students to take good care of the expensive facilities.
Dr. Senesie guaranteed that unlike in the past, the award of government scholarships would be level with students offering the sciences as top priority, that there has been a 12.7% increase in enrollment in tertiary institutions that would double next year, that the Milton Margai College, that has been neglected for long, would be expanded through the BADEA project reiterating that his government is sincerely committed to service to the nation not individuals.
Dr. Senesie added that the college’s website would market its programs and activities including the personal contacts of staff and students in its domain/portal and that when students apply online the standard of the college would not be compromised as they would not have contacts with individuals.
He called for the web manager to be available 24-hours to respond to questions and queries and urged the Acting Principal to establish an electronics library, for fees to be paid online, that the Inter-Varsity Games would soon commence that would add value to education and that elections for the National Union of Sierra Leone Students would soon be conducted.
The vote of thanks was rendered by Rosaline Kamara, Interim President of the Students Union, who pledged that the facilities would be utilized for their intended purpose.
Highlights of the ceremony were a conducted tour of the renovated hotels, toilets and other facilities, PowerPoint presentation of the developments projects undertaken by the Acting Principal, Dr. Philip John Kanu by the college’s Estate Officer, Paul Samba who recalled that the toilets in the hotels were in a deplorable condition and without water with no showers and wash-hand basins.
