The Decline of Ghana’s Textile Industry: Its effects on Textile Education in Ghana

Abstract

There has been persistent, drastic decline of the Textile Industry in Ghana which is affecting the study of textiles in Ghanaian Textiles education institutions. Upon this foundation, the study seeks to examine and discuss the impact of the decline of Ghana’s textile industry on textiles education in Ghana. The population for the study consisted of students, lecturers and heads of departments of selected textiles education institutions in Ghana as well as operatives in Ghana’s textile factories. The methodology employed was the qualitative approach and the descriptive survey. Observation and interviews were the research instruments used to gather data. Some findings were that, of excessive influx of textile products from foreign countries, exorbitant utility cost affecting production, intellectual dishonesty on the part of foreign textile producers and obsolete technology by local textile manufacturers. This has also contributed adversely to the reduction of the intake of textile students in textile education institutions. The study recommends among others that the government of Ghana invests massively in the local textile industry by giving bailouts for the acquisition of new machinery, human resource and manpower development. Again efforts should be made for the provision of equipment and logistics to enhance teaching to make the textiles graduate marketable.

Key words: textile industry, textile education, imports, exports, decline and obsolete