Tourism Education and Training in Ghana: An Evaluation of the HND Tourism Curriculum of Cape Coast Polytechnic

Abstract

The main purpose of this thesis was to evaluate the curriculum being used for the HND Tourism programme at Cape Coast Polytechnic. The specific objectives were to analyse occupational and regional distribution of the graduates, appraise job requirements of their employers, establish the level of employer satisfaction with the performance of the graduates and assess the role of internship to the acquisition of skills by the graduates. The study employed mixed methods for the collection of data and analyses. Snowball sampling technique was used to select 205 alumni of the Department, who graduated between 2003 and 2008, for the work. Ten percent of their employers were also selected purposively to respond to questionnaires used for the study. In depth interviews were also conducted with some of the graduates, their employers and all teachers in the Department. Fisher's exact; Chi-square, Student t and Phi Coefficient of Association were the main tests and analytical tools used. The study revealed that most employers were satisfied with the performance of the graduates and that less than 40% of the graduates were working in the tourism and hospitality sector with a significant number in educational and financial institutions. However, about 15% of the graduates were unemployed. This has policy implications for equipping the tourism students with more practical, employable and entrepreneurial skills for them to contribute effectively to the country's development. In spite of its satisfactory performance, the study recommends the need to make the curriculum more practical in orientation.