Entrepreneurship Education: Towards an Innovative Approach

Abstract

Over two decades into the introduction of the entrepreneurship education in Polytechnics in Ghana as a compulsory course, little assessment has been done on the teaching and learning of the course. This paper presents the findings on the assessment of the progress of entrepreneurship education in Ghanaian Polytechnics. This study is expected to contribute to existing empirical knowledge regarding the teaching and learning of entrepreneurship in higher educational institutions in a developing country context. The evaluation criteria of entrepreneurship education was based on what is taught, how it is taught and the context in which the entrepreneurship education is taking place in the polytechnics. Mixed method research design was used to collect and analyze data from five Polytechnics out of the ten which were selected in random. It was primarily found that entrepreneurship education in the polytechnics involves more of theoretical and foreign knowledge impartation than the development of practical skills which can be applicable to the Ghanaian ecosystem. It concludes with a discussion on innovative approaches to teaching and learning of entrepreneurship to reflect the needs of the local ecosystem.

Keywords: entrepreneurship education, higher educational institutions, innovative pedagogy