IPMC Ghana Review – My Personal Experience & Advice for Beginners
I’m writing this review from personal experience. I attended IPMC, specifically the Takoradi branch, where I enrolled in their Graphics Course, which covered both web design and graphic design. Looking back, I honestly wish I hadn’t gone.
A friend of mine who had already attended IPMC (Accra Branch) warned me. He told me that the way the school teaches isn’t very effective. But, as humans, we often have to learn lessons the hard way, so I ignored his advice and registered anyway.
I was incredibly excited to start my IT journey at IPMC. That excitement, however, ended in regret.
Key Takeaways
- Not for True Beginners: The teaching style is very difficult if you have no prior IT knowledge. I only managed because I was already “into computers.” I feel bad for anyone starting from zero.
- Self-Study is Mandatory: Be prepared to teach yourself. Everything I truly know today, I learned from my own research and from online platforms like Coursera, not from the classroom.
- Poor Management (Takoradi Branch): My experience at the Takoradi branch was defined by poor staff management. This led to a good teacher quitting (reportedly over low pay) and being replaced by someone with no teaching experience.
- “Fees First, Materials Later… Maybe”: You will be told to pay your fees in full to get learning materials, but I knew people who paid and never received theirs.
- Unprofessionalism is Common: For a top IT school, the administrative errors were shocking. I would often receive official communications with careless typos. The “Your mountly fee is due” text in the article image is my own example, created to show you the type of unprofessional mistakes that were common.
Who is IPMC For?
This article is a warning for a specific type of student: the person who is new to IT and wants to build a career from scratch.
Here’s the problem: for someone like me who was already “into computers” and had some foundational knowledge, the teaching at IPMC was just enough to build on. But for someone who doesn’t have any prior knowledge about computers and wishes to study there, I feel genuinely bad for them. They are simply not going to get the value they are paying for.
If you want to study an IT program and you are a complete novice, a traditional university might be a better place for you. Although IPMC is “practical throughout,” the teaching they provide isn’t good enough to launch a career if you’re not already an IT person.
Even those of us who had prior knowledge are still struggling to land a job. Now imagine you, with no IT background, hoping to learn everything from them. Please, think twice.
My Experience with “Poor Staff Management”
Throughout my time at IPMC, the staff management was very poor. This was my experience at the Takoradi branch, and it was a major source of frustration.
It even affected the learning materials. They will ask you to pay your school fees in full before you can get the materials you need to learn. But be warned: this feels like a trap. I personally know people who paid their full school fees and never received their learning materials.
The lack of good management also directly impacted the teaching quality. I saw my first graphics teacher—a very good one—quit his job. Why? The rumor was that IPMC doesn’t pay its staff well. This was a huge loss for us as students.
And who did they hire to replace him? Someone with no teaching experience.
Think about that. You are paying all this money to be taught by someone with no teaching experience. I’m not sure you would want that either. For an IT school with such a big name, I expected everything to be professional. It was not.
A Sad Lack of Professionalism
The disorganization was everywhere. IPMC allows its students to pay their fees on a monthly basis, which is a good thing if you can’t afford the full payment upfront.
However, the monthly SMS reminders they send to students sometimes come with careless mistakes. I would wonder, “Don’t these people read what they are sending before it goes out?”
It’s actually sad for a major IT school to behave like this.
Final Verdict
Think Twice, and Consider Your Options
I am not saying IPMC is a “bad” school. The brand is strong, and as I said, if you already have a background in IT, you can manage to make it work.
But if you are going there to start a brand new career in IT, and you have no foundational knowledge, you might end up with deep regrets.
Everything I truly know today is almost self-taught. I learned from various sources on the internet, including Coursera. My advice is to check out those online courses. You might just save yourself a lot of time, money, and frustration.
