Vocationalisation of Higher Education in Ghana: Contextual Concerns and Prospects from Lecturers and Students in Accra Polytechnic

Abstract

In today’s industrial world, vocational and technical education has emerged as the key to the development of every economy and that various experts and educational stakeholders have highlighted on this claim. In view of this, the main objective of this study was to examine the challenges and prospects in the delivery of vocational/technical education at the higher level in Ghana.  We collected data from both primary and secondary sources using Accra Polytechnic (now Accra Technical University), as a case study.  Using the stratified random sampling technique, 130 respondents comprising 100 students and 30 lecturers were selected for the study. A hybrid of quantitative and qualitative research methods were employed for data gathering purposes.  In addition to descriptive statistics, Freidman test and t-test were used to analyse the data.  The findings revealed that vocational/technical education curriculum keeps changing over the period and has assumed different purposes due to the emergence of complex social, technological, economic, demographic and political developments in Ghana. We recommended that, among others, the whole curriculum must be re-oriented towards providing occupational skills, stakeholders must come with unifying vision of exerting influence, set goals, create new ideas, policies, vision and provide direction to ensure that reforms lead to effective delivery of viable vocational education in Ghana.

Keywords: Curricula, Context, Higher Institutions, Lecturers, Students, and Vocational   Education.