Human Capital Development in Polytechnics in Ghana: Prospects of Industrial Attachment

Abstract

Industrial attachment in polytechnic education based on the philosophy of experiential education facilitates the production of technically skilled and productive human capital for national development. However, the snag of the programme in human capital development relates to inadequacy of logistics and funding, weak polytechnic-industry linkage, inadequate supervision, and evaluation. The objective of the paper is to assess the prospects of the industrial attachment programme in human capital development in selected public polytechnics in Ghana. The mixed method and explanatory research designs were employed in conducting the study. Sample size of 594 respondents was selected based on the purposive, simple random and systematic sampling techniques. The method of survey via questionnaires, interview guide, and focus group discussions was employed in collecting data, while descriptive and inferential statistics were employed in data processing and analysis. The difference in the prospects based on the benefits of industrial attachment among the stakeholders of polytechnics was significantly small but no significant differences were found among the four polytechnics involved in the study. A strong and effective polytechnic-industry synergy and an industrial attachment fund have the potential of improving and sustaining the prospects of the industrial attachment programme for developing technically skilled middle level manpower for national development.

Keywords: Prospects, Human capital development, Industrial attachment, Experiential learning, Polytechnics in Ghana