The Factors Contributing to the Challenges with Apprenticeship in Ghana: Trainees’ Perspective

Apprenticeship has been the method of training the youth in acquiring employable skills in most developing countries. It provides an avenue for school dropouts to acquire skills leading to employment for sustainable livelihood. Apprenticeship plays a significant role in providing a skilled workforce and produces entrepreneurs, however, it is confronted with many challenges. This study, therefore, assessed the factors contributing to the challenges with an apprenticeship in Ghana, specifically from the trainees’ perspective. A descriptive survey was employed with a stratified random sampling technique used to select 1200 participants for data collection using a questionnaire. The study identified ten key or extremely challenging factors such as; the quality of the training is controlled by masters, masters provide training schedule, the training involves only practical activities, the training includes entrepreneurial skills, the training includes customer care, the training involves the use of modern technology, the training included financial management skills, there are policies governing the duration of the training, equipment and tools used are modern, and policies governing the duration training. Six components were found to be the factors contributing to the challenges, including; training structure-related factors, contemporary technological-related factors, aid-related factors, recognition-related factors, funding-related factors and perception-related factors; and these factors correlate positively and significantly. It is recommended that the government of Ghana should help in providing training structure and resources to promote skills training for the youth to acquire sustainable employment. Keywords: Apprenticeship, Apprentice, Challenges with apprenticeship, Entrepreneurs, Training DOI: 10.7176/JEP/12-30-02 Publication date: October 31 st 2021