Abstract:
The decline in popularity of Clothing and Textiles amongst the youth of today has led to the
low enrolment of students in the programme in senior high schools. The study sought to
investigate the low patronage of students in clothing and textiles programme in the Senior High
Schools of Ghana using Kumasi Metropolis as the study area. The objectives of the study were
to identify factors responsible for the low patronage of students in Clothing and Textiles, and
the extent to which attitude of parents and teachers towards clothing and textiles affect student
enrolment and finally devise ways of improving students’ interest in the programme. The
descriptive survey method was employed in the conduct of this study. A total of 240
respondents were sampled for the study comprising 160 students, 16 teachers, 8 headteachers
and 56 parents. Questionnaire and interview were used to elicit data from respondents. The
study found that a combination of factors such as students disinformation on the importance of
studying clothing and textiles, lack of career counselling and parents’ disapproval of the
programme were the main reasons behind the low enrolment of students in Clothing and
Textiles. The study made several recommendations for mitigating these problems which are;
the relevant stakeholders in Technical and Vocational education should look at ways of
motivating and providing financial assistance to parents and students who enrol in clothing and
textiles to ease their financial burdens. Also, the study recommends that there should be career
guidance on the job prospects of the programme especially for parents not to downplay the
importance of the programme and encourage their wards to enrol in it.
Description:
A Dissertation in the Department of Fashion Design and Textiles Technology, Faculty of
Vocational Education, submitted to the School of Graduate Studies, University of
Education Winneba, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the
Master of Technology (Fashion and Textiles Technology) degree.