A Study On Employability Skills Of Polytechnic Education Graduates In Ghana

This research empirically examined the role of Polytechnic Education (PE) and employability skills in Ghana. The originality of this polytechnic system’s assessment lies in its re-examination of the higher educational pathways in Ghana in the light of individual trajectories onto the labour market, and the perspectives that emerge. Not only courses offered, curriculum, coordination, or self reliance skills but also successfully completed studies in a general skills were viewed here as elements in the increasing complexity of polytechnic training pathway, based on polytechnic education upstream and its effect on the transition options from education to employment and employers’views downstream were examined. The examination of the polytechnic education revolves around the hypothesis that:polytechnic education does have a significant impact on graduates’employability skills in Ghana.The answer to this hypothesis was informed by a survey on Ghanaian polytechnics’ employability skills2011, designed and carried out by the author of this dissertation (Adwoa Kwegyiriba). The survey interviewed a sample population size of1027as a representation of the six out of the ten polytechnics, employers and the general public understudied.It drew on the human capital theory (HCT) and found out that polytechnic education has a positive impact in terms of employability skills from the student consumers, employers and the general public perspectives.The Polytechnic education model clearly indicated from the result as performing well in providing employability skills to its consumers. However the polytechnic model is limited to serve72percent of the metropolitan dwellers to the neglect of the citizens living at the district levels. Therefore, an Integrated Polytechnic Education (IPE) model has been proposed which looks at providing polytechnic education from a holistic picture to all citizens of Ghana living at every district and wish to access PE. The proposed model captures the district levels to the higher education beneficiaries.The findings of this study add to the scanty literature on polytechnic education, with an increasing demand on polytechnic institutions to deliver service to more Ghanaians, this research has provided policy makers in higher education with tools to direct resources to priority areas that will create and widen access to the much needed polytechnic education.