The name Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) is locally and internationally recognized as one of the institutions in Ghana that offers quality education to its students, in this web post we are going to brief you on the history of the great school KNUST. Please relax and enjoy as we delve into how Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology was founded.
KNUST HISTORY
The vision of knust coming into existence was first revealed to Agyeman Prempeh I who was a ruler in the Ashanti kingdom. He was the first person to have the plan of establishing a university in Kumasi. Agyeman Prempeh I was not able to establish a university in Kumasi by himself due to a clash between him and the British Empire, both factions was having different objectives. The good news is after his time as ruler, his younger brother King Agyeman Prempeh II who was his successor continued with his plan. Some events in the 1940s went for him and those led to the execution of his brother’s plan. One of the events was the establishment of the University College of the Gold Coast, followed by the 1948 Accra riots. These two events led to the Watson Commission report, which recommended that a university of sciences be set up in Kumasi.
Building for the Kumasi College of Technology (KNUST first name) started in 1949. The Kumasi College of Technology admitted its first set of students to the engineering faculty in 1951. The college had its legal basis through an Act of Parliament as the Kumasi College of Technology in 1952 so those who were admitted in 1951 started their academic work in 1952. 200 teacher-training students formed the core of the college and those students were from Achimota College in the Greater region. Kumasi College of Technology was affiliated to the University of London and in 1961 the college gained its full university status.
In 1953, teacher training students were transferred from the formal school of pharmacy from Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra to establish the pharmacy department at Kumasi College of Technology. In the same year, a department of agriculture was set up and the other departments also followed in the subsequent years. The college was then decided to be a full science and technology institution as it was expanding. For this reason, some colleges were transferred from the Kumasi College of Technology. For instance, the Commerce Department was transferred to Achimota.
The Government of Ghana elected a commission in December 1960 to help it make decisions, decisions for developing university education in Ghana. From this plan from the Ghana government, the Kumasi College of Technology was transformed into a full university and the name became Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology by an Act of Parliament on 22 August 1961.
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