Underlying strategies for improving entrepreneurial skills development of technical and vocational students in developing countries: using Ghana as a case study

Purpose In Ghana, graduates often have limited entrepreneurial skills and rarely undertake entrepreneur initiatives as they are persistently in search of non-existing jobs in the formal sector. On this basis, this study was conducted to identify underlying strategies for improving entrepreneurial skill requirement of technical and vocational students in developing countries using Ghana as a case study. Design/methodology/approach The study approach was largely mixed, as the study aimed at testing existing theories on the entrepreneurial development of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) graduates and tutors using a quantitative approach. The findings of the study were further validated qualitatively by interviewing TVET experts and tutors. The analysis of the quantitative data gathered was done using relative importance index (RII) and factor analysis (FA). The thematic analysis was employed in analyzing the qualitative data gathered. Findings The study revealed that four key strategies needed in improving the entrepreneurial skills and entrepreneurial education among TVE students in Ghana: comprised learner/student centred education; problem-based learning (PBL); classrooms that encourage development of intellectual aptitudes and activity-based learning (ABL). However, the leading reasons for non-usage of the underlying strategies were the lack of capacity of the tutors in the adoption of the strategies, lack of availability of human resources at TVET and the poor perception of TVET tutors and students. Some challenges included faced in adopting the strategies encompassed inadequate training resources, tutors’ training not tailored to the emerging technological advancement, insufficient resources and infrastructure, lack of industrial collaboration and readiness of the job market to absolve graduate from TVET. Research limitations/implications The results of the study showed the mode of instruction delivery of entrepreneurial education should be improved by adopting the key strategies identified in this study in comparison to the conventional mode of education. The findings of this study would stir the policy debate on entrepreneurial education in Ghana. Similarly, further studies could develop relevant hypothesis for testing the identified strategies and its impact on entrepreneurial skill development in Ghana. Originality/value Various studies on entrepreneurial education has been developed all over the world. This study focused on how the skills of TVE students can be improved. The study further identified reasons for non-usage of these strategies in improving the entrepreneurial skills and entrepreneurial education by TVET tutors and other challenges faced by tutors who adopted the underlying strategies. A study of this nature in Ghana is novel and cogent findings were elicited from this study that could form the basis for policymaking and curriculum development in developing countries.