Youth enrollment into dressmaking and tailoring apprenticeship programme

Abstract

There has been a reduction in the numbers of Dressmaking/Tailoring apprenticeship in Koforidua, Ghana. Masters and Mistresses in tailoring and dressmaking industry complain of the lack of workers to help them meet their clients’ demands on time. The purpose of the study was to investigate the trends of youth enrollment into dressmaking/tailoring apprenticeship in Koforidua – Ghana, to identify the factors that motivated the youth to enroll on the dressmaking/tailoring apprenticeship programme in Koforidua; Identify the contractual agreements for enrolling the youth into dressmaking/tailoring apprenticeship in Koforidua. Cross-sectional survey was employed for the study. Two sets of Questionnaire were used to collect data from the respondents (27 apprentices and 27 of their trainers) using both purposive and simple random sampling procedures. The data gathered was coded and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. The findings showed that the apprentices expect to gain valuable work experience and insight into the profession to enable them to work independently after completion and have job security, and to establish their own businesses. Enrollment into apprenticeship training has over the years reduced drastically. Enrollment of the youth into dressmaking/tailoring apprenticeship training is key to preparing the youth to work in the garment industry as artisans to sustain the industry and increase revenue on garment export and also reduce the large population of unemployed youth in Ghana.