Auchi Polytechnic is a Federal Polytechnic in Auchi, Edo State, Nigeria. It is one of the first four Polytechnics established in Nigeria. It has over 10,000 students enrolled in business, technology, environmental and arts courses.
History
Auchi Polytechnic was founded in 1963, first as a technical college which was a gift of the British government to the then Midwestern Region. It offered courses only up to the Ordinary Diploma level in limited areas of engineering and business. By the seventies, there was a need for skilled manpower at a higher level and in many more disciplines. Thus in 1973, the Bendel State Government upgraded the technical college to a full-fledged polytechnic with the mandate to train skilled manpower up to the Higher National Diploma level in a broad range of engineering, science, environmental studies, business studies and art and design. The extant law establishing it assigned to the institution the task of producing well trained and highly skilled middle level manpower for the national economy in the areas of engineering, applied sciences and technology, environmental studies, management studies, and art and industrial design. In 1994, the Federal Government took over the polytechnic from the Edo State Government.
The school has high academic standard recognized nationally and internationally. Since 2009, Auchi Polytechnic has consistently been rated amongst the top universities in Nigeria by Webometrics. It came number eleven in 2009 and in 2010 it moved up one point to the 10th position. By 2011 it became number two. Amongst the polytechnics, it has consistently remained the first in Nigeria, in West Africa, and the second in the whole of Africa. The graduates of the school have distinguished themselves in their chosen fields, including business, finance, engineering, science, art and design. In competitions amongst peers, the high standards show glaringly. The polytechnic holds:
The first prize in Polytechnic Expo of engineering designs and fabrications.
The first prize in the Minna exhibition for crafts and woodworks
The NUXART prize for Art Works; the polytechnic won this prize three times consecutively.
The school made a good showing at the Federal Ministry of Education organized exposition for all tertiary institutions in the country. Its performance informed its invitation by the Federal Government to exhibit works again at the first African legislative summit held in 2013.
At student level, the school's students have distinguished themselves among their peers. At a national debate organized for tertiary institutions held at Abuja in 2009, Auchi Polytechnic won the first prize. The following year, the school's students came second at the debate hosted by the University of Ibadan, where one of the school's representatives emerged as the best female speaker.
In the area of environmental impact, Auchi Polytechnic embodies the Federal Government's commitment to providing entrepreneurial skills to students, as both short and long-term solutions to unemployment and under-employment. The institution has been designated a centre of excellence for entrepreneurship studies.
Closely related to this is the development of flexible skills initiative of the Commonwealth of Learning. Again, Auchi Polytechnic is foremost in this regard, being the only partner-institution with COL in Nigeria. Thus, the institution runs short duration programmes in skills acquisition for interested members of the public.
The polytechnic has institutionalized the culture of inaugural lectures which requires qualified chief lecturers to give a summation of their experience and research interest in their respective disciplines.
