Established in 1954, the Singapore Polytechnic was the first polytechnic in Singapore. It was set up for the purpose of training up a workforce to meet the needs of Singapore’s rapid industrialization programme during the 1950s and 1960s. The institution’s first campus was located at Prince Edward Road, in what is now the Bestway Building. It was officially opened by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in February 1959. With growing student enrolment, the polytechnic expanded to include two other campuses at Ayer Rajah and Dover Road. Dover Road was earmarked as the new permanent base for the polytechnic in 1971 and it moved to its new premises in 1978.
