Monday 2 January 2012


PRINCIPAL COMPONENTS ANALYSIS  OF EMPLOYERS’ SATISFACTION WITH POLYTECHNIC EDUCATION. A TRACER STUDY OF KOFORIDUA POLYTECHNIC GRADUATES.

BY
G.K. ABLEDU
A PAPER PRESENTED AT THE KOFORIDUA POLYTECHNIC’S THIRD(3RD ) APPLIED RESEARCH CONFERENCE FROM 17TH  TO 20TH  MAY, 2010
ABSTRACT
Koforidua polytechnic had been involved in developing human resources through regular, evening and doorstep programmes. It thus has the responsibility to keep track of the performance of their graduates to determine accountability and whether or not her programmes have impacted on the individual, the institution, or the country. However, no reliable data exist on the employment of its graduates nor have the view of students and employers been ascertained as to the relevance and usefulness of programmes offered.
Employers are concerned with how adequate or otherwise, polytechnic education in Ghana provides for manpower needs of manufacturing industries. Up until now, no study had been carried out by Koforidua polytechnic to determine the influence of its programmes in meeting human resources needs of the economy.
ln order to respond to these concerns, this tracer study was undertaken to ascertain the effectiveness of polytechnic education as manifested by the employability of its graduates. The study had special significance. First, it provided a process of evaluation of the performance of Koforidua Polytechnic graduates and secondly the results would form data base for the institution. The main objective of the study was to assess employers’ and employees’ satisfaction with polytechnic education.
The target population comprised of 5,015 graduates from the departments of Accountancy, Marketing, Purchasing and supply, Statistics, Computer Science and Networking Management from 1999 to 2009 graduates. The study targeted 40% of the graduates from each cohort. This gave a sample of 2000 graduates.
Principal Components and Ordinal Regression  Analysis of the results indicated an average rating of the employers. Knowledge and skills gained during their studies were useful and relevant to their jobs, and to the development needs of the country.
Keywords: Tracer study, employers, employability, polytechnic graduates, data base, polytechnic education, manpower needs.

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