The Difference between the Skills Graduates Acquired during Training at the Polytechnics and the Performance Expectations of the Globalized Fashion Industries

Abstract

One of the key determinants of a dynamic and self-reliant economy is the responsiveness and relevance of the educational system to the developments required in the industrial sector of the economy.  Relevance is an issue where academic institutions and their products are more obsessed with certification than with passing on employable knowledge and practical skills, and where graduates have difficulty creating or finding jobs for which they are purportedly trained to function in.  The study was designed to determine the competency levels of graduates of the fashion design programme from the various polytechnics in Ghana.  The sample size was made up of 20 graduates, each from the five HND-running polytechnics making a total of 100 respondents snowballed for the study.  Questionnaire was used to collect data, and results were tested using Means.  Based on the findings, a country-wide roll-out of the CBT programme in the polytechnics was recommended, and that trends in globalization should be made to inform instruction in the CBT programme at the polytechnics.