Congruence between national policy for science and humanities enrolment ratio and labour market demand in Ghana

Type Journal Article - Academic Journals
Title Congruence between national policy for science and humanities enrolment ratio and labour market demand in Ghana
Author(s)
Volume 8
Issue 10
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2013
Page numbers 708-719
URL http://www.academicjournals.org/article/article1379762768_Alabi et al.pdf
Abstract
The paper undertook a snapshot of the demand for various academic programmes on the labour market
and compared this with national policy norms for enrolment in public universities in Ghana. The
objective was to ascertain whether national higher education enrolments are responsive to the national
policy target of 60:40 (Sciences : Humanities) or responsive to labour market needs. The study
employed an exploratory mix-method design based on reviews of existing works, survey of job
advertisements and data on enrolments. In all 120 issues of a widely-circulated newspaper was perused
for job advertisements and 2536 job advertisements were recorded. The results suggests that
enrolments in public universities in Ghana are not in consonance with the national policy targets of
60:40 (Science: Humanities) respectively but in line with market demand. The study found that at
undergraduate level enrolment ratios for Sciences and Humanities were 35:65 in 2002 with a
corresponding market demand of 34:66 and 39: 61 in 2010 as against the market demand of 39:61. The
detailed analysis of the survey results further points out that enrolments in various academic
programmes also reflect labour market needs and realities but national policy norm deviates from
these realities. The stricken match between enrolment and market demand requires further attention
that will realign the policy target with the reality or vice versa. This will require a comprehensive data
collection and analysis on demand for academic programmes as this was found to be non-existing in
the country. Key words: Academic Programming, Labour Market Demands

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