RETURNS TO POLYTECHNIC EDUCATION IN GHANA. CONSTRAINTS AND PROSPECTS  

Emefa Amponsah holds a BA in Economics and an MPhil in Development Studies from the University of Ghana. She works with the Takoradi Polytechnic as a Lecturer. Her research interests are in Entrepreneurship, Tertiary education and Polytechnic education.

Polytechnics in Ghana are mandated to train the lower and middle-level manpower with the skills set needed for job creation, employment, improved incomes and economic growth. The polytechnic subsector in Ghana is however plagued with a range of problems from, high staff turnover, frequent strikes, weak relations with industry, limited infrastructure, teaching and learning materials among others. In the midst of all these challenges, the Polytechnics are still able to produce the manpower that is required for employment by industry.

The study will determine the returns obtained from polytechnic education, if the manpower produced by the polytechnics has the skills set needed by industry. If the graduates are able to perform on the jobs, get higher incomes and if their skill set acquired gives them potential for pay rise. The study will inform policy makers on investment decisions to make in the tertiary education subsector with special reference to the polytechnics.