The Craze of Fashion among Female students of Ghanaian Tertiary Institutions: Implication for Teaching and Learning

Abstract

The essence of tertiary education is to groom the youth to take up middle level and managerial status in the world of work. These breeds of intellectuals are expected to demonstrate impeccable character, unsullied reputation and at best act as copybook for the younger generation. However, In recent times, the youth in Ghana, especially the females counterpart in tertiary institutions, have developed an awful taste for foreign fashion trends which have been described by some as inimical and amoral to the values and ethics of the society. A survey indicates that morality on our tertiary campuses has gotten to it breaking limits with regards to clothing. The adults have termed it as “indecent dressing. The female students, our future academicians, who ought to know better are regrettably and constantly championing and propagating this trend of fashion which they term as “wicked”. This has a lot of detrimental implications on the teaching and learning in the universities and other tertiary institutions. This trend in fashion has been affecting both lecturers and students, especially the male students hence the need for this paper. It examines the various definitions of fashion, takes a look at the current trends of fashion and analyse critically their implications on academic work - teaching and learning especially - and give suggestions as to how they could either be curbed or rectified. The study mainly based on observations, interviews and questionnaire revealed that female students who are younger, mostly between the ages of 17 and 25 patronize this kind of fashion. Also their “indecent dressings” have some ruinous effects on teaching and learning in tertiary institutions in Ghana. The study concludes that while the young females want to free themselves from the ‘rigid and fading’ indigenous code of ethics in dressing, they should note that being fashionable does not imply being disrespectful to socio-cultural norms and values of the society that encourages the girl-child go to school.

Keywords: Fashion craze, teaching and learning, culture, dressing to kill, style-line