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.
