Dynamic Research Journals (DRJ)

Journal of Economics and Finance (DRJ-JEF)

Volume 2 ~ Issue 3 (March, 2017) pp: 16-25
www.dynamicresearchjournals.org

An Examination of the Efficacy of Polytechnic

Entrepreneurship Education Curriculum in Producing Self
Employing Business Studies Graduates: A Case of Gweru
Polytechnic College Business Graduates
1Dr Mickson Mazuruse & 2Ms Esinitah Gondongwe
1
mmazuruse@gzu.ac.zw/mickson_mazuruse@yahoo.ac.zw, 2esinitahgn@gmail.com

Abstract: This research sought to explore the ability of polytechnic entrepreneurship education curriculum to
produce self employing business studies graduates. In carrying out this research, a qualitative paradigm was used
taking the case of Gweru Polytechnic business studies graduates. Data was collected using questionnaires,
interviews and observations to allow for triangulation in exploring the ability of entrepreneurship education in
producing self employing business graduates. The research found out that besides the adverse economic situation in
Zimbabwe which has stifled funding sources, graduates do lack key entrepreneurial skills. This is because teaching,
learning and assessment is still highly theoretical with the common method of teaching, learning and assessment
being still dominantly the traditional lecture method. It was also discovered that the polytechnic curriculum needs
continual replenishment on its content so as to meet the requirements of the current era. This study recommends a
curriculum that is practically oriented. Specialists or practising entrepreneurs with hands on practical
entrepreneurial experience should teach the students over the four-year training period. At the end of it all, the
student should then be assessed using practical oriented methods such as portfolios and a practical examination.
This research however did not exhaust on assessment methodologies hence it recommends further research on the
enhancement of the current assessment methods to ensure production of graduates relevant and ready for self
employment.
Keywords: Graduate Unemployment, Entrepreneurship Education, Teaching and Learning Methods, Self-
employment, Business Studies.

I. Introduction
Unemployment is and has remained one of the major challenges confronting the youth in particular the
graduates from higher and tertiary institutions in Zimbabwe. This is despite expansion of the education and training
system at all levels with (Murinda; 2014) and Matus et al (2014) arguing that, schools churn out almost 300 000
graduates when the formal employment is only able to absorb about 10% of that number leaving the 90% to be
catered for in informal employment which largely dominated by those without skills (Matus et al, 2014). It was
during the decade of long political and economic crisis that plagued Zimbabwe since 2000 that graduate formal
unemployment peaked and has never improved markedly since then. During this period it is informal employment
that has contributed immensely to adequacy of employment opportunities. Unemployment (Gandawa, 2015).The
economy contracted by 40% giving rise to a disintegrated commercial system which became dominated by the
informal sector shifting skills requirements of the labour market toward an inclination to those with entrepreneurship
skills (Matus et al, 2014). Under such circumstances Esene (2015) regards education as a powerful instrument of
social change and national development. Therefore, unless tertiary institutions effectively develop relevant
manpower for the nation, the purpose for which these institutions were established, then, they will be totally
irrelevant. This calls for tertiary institutions to infuse into graduates deep intellectual capabilities and practical skills.
These make them able to start and succeed in their own enterprises (Garwe, 2014) as a form of employment for self
and others.
Higher and tertiary institutions in Zimbabwe through the relevant ministries have been trying to keep abreast
with the dynamic environment by continuously revising and aligning curricula to the current labour market needs of
the nation. The introduction of entrepreneurship education into polytechnic curricula as a compulsory course
irrespective of students area of specialisation was one such move by the government through the Ministry of Higher
and Tertiary Education Science and Technology. The policy thrust being acquisition of entrepreneurial skills by

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 An Examination of the Efficacy of Polytechnic Entrepreneurship Education Curriculum in Producing Self Employing Business
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students which enables them to be self reliant and self employed after completion of studies thereby easing on
unemployment (Murinda, 2014; Esene, 2015 & Akhuemonkhan, Raimi and Sofoluw, 2013). However, the majority
of students seem not to realise the strength of this piece of curriculum viewing and taking it as merely an academic
fulfilment requirement.
An overview of the Higher Education Examination Council (HEXCO) entrepreneurial skills development
curriculum which was effective January 2011 indicates that the course is done only for one year at National
certificate level which is the entry point into polytechnic tertiary education, with its aim being to develop a culture
of entrepreneurship in students and equip them with knowledge and skills to start and run business enterprises. The
syllabus shows that the total contact hours enough to produce an entrepreneur according to HEXCO standards is
80hours in a year. Assessment is done through both coursework and a written three hour examination weighed 30%
assignments, 30% skills based competences and the remaining 40% being the examination. It is during this one year
that students are expected to have been well grounded and ready to start their own enterprises successfully four
years down the line.
To compliment entrepreneurship education curriculum, a number of policies and programmes have been
developed and implemented by Government in-order to address unemployment issues through entrepreneurship
(United Nation World Youth Report, 2011) but still these have not been fully utilised by the graduates. This has in a
way rendered them jobless as they are unable to create employment for themselves and others at the backdrop of an
industry that is though declining has well defined pockets of growth which presents opportunities (Matus, et al,
2014) for entrepreneurship.
However, this curriculum initiative seem not to have yielded much positive results with more and more
graduates roaming the streets jobless as the formal job market struggles to accommodate them and some migrating
globally in search of work and the government itself acknowledging this challenge through the recent labour
exportation programme of 2015 (Gandawa, 2015). Graduates are failing to create their own employment on
completion of their studies or later on in life, rather they find themselves pursuing studies in other disciplines such
as education as they perceive this to be assuring employment on successful completion or they tirelessly seek or
patiently wait for formal jobs to come their way. This is despite the fact that 91% of the 87% youth employed in the
informal sector lack requisite skills of the various informal trades they are into (The Zimbabwe 2011 Labour Force
and Child Labour survey). It is therefore, the purpose of this research to establish why polytechnic business studies
graduates are failing to create their own employment in an environment which is presenting opportunities despite
receiving entrepreneurship education training.

Statement of the problem

Business studies graduates are failing to create employment of their own in the face of shrinking formal jobs
preferring to enrol for a teaching qualification or furthering their studies as way of improving their employability.
Evidence on the ground indicates that there is a lot of financial activity and government initiatives taking place in
the economic world which presents opportunities for employment yet graduate unemployment still prevails. The
question therefore is how far has the polytechnic entrepreneurship educational system been able to adequately
prepare business studies students for self employment and the world of entrepreneurship?

Aim
The main aim of the research is to establish the extent of polytechnic entrepreneurship education curriculum
implementation towards producing a self-employing graduate.

Objectives
To ascertain why business studies graduates are not adequately prepared for self employment and the world
of entrepreneurship
To establish on the adequacy of the teaching and assessment methods of entrepreneurship education in use
To identify the skills gap in place between the business studies graduate and the desired graduate by the world
of work
To suggest intervention measures to polytechnic colleges on effective entrepreneurship education curriculum
implementation.

Research Questions
1. Why are business studies graduates at Gweru Polytechnic not taking up self employment as a career?

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2. What are the teaching, learning and assessment methods used by lecturers to teach entrepreneurship
education?
3. What is the extent of the mismatch between graduate training and the competencies and skills required by
the entrepreneurship?
4. What intervention measures can be put in place to improve the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education
curriculum?

Significance of the Study

Entrepreneurship education has been recognized as major force to be reckoned with in reducing
unemployment the world over. It has greatly contributed to the success and development of nations such as America
and Japan among others. It is the academic higher institutions that have been tasked with developing manpower for
the nation (Nwangwu and Olaitan cited in Esene, 2015) through inculcation of appropriate and relevant skills. As
such, this study is important to the polytechnic colleges as it will help highlight on the missing link between
entrepreneurship education curriculum and what it intends to achieve. Intervention measures suggested will be
useful for the review and improvement of entrepreneurship education curriculum implementation in particular the
teaching and assessment methods in order to produce a graduate ready for self employment. To students, the study
will help them refocus their mindsets towards entrepreneurship education not just as an academic fulfillment
requirement, but as a lucrative prospective career path that they can exploit successfully on completion of their
training. The job world will benefit from graduates who are ready and adequately trained to take the nation to
greater heights through successful enterprises management, reducing unemployment rates through job creation not
just for the graduates themselves but for others as well.

II. Theoretical framework

This research will be guided by the Schumpeter effect of 1999 as cited in Akhuemonkhan et al (2013) and Bula
(2012) which states that, the phenomenon of unemployment is inversely related to new firm start ups commonly
referred to as entrepreneurship. This means that high levels of unemployment are often associated with low levels of
entrepreneurial activities, where people are motivated to set up business enterprises. The implication of this effect is
that unemployment tends to be very high because people have lower endowments of human capital and
entrepreneurial talents required to start and sustain new business (Akhuemonkhan et al, 2013). The Schumpeter
effect is a function of quite a number of other theories which has a lot to do with the teaching, learning and
assessment of learners during training. It is therefore the purpose of this research to show how the following
conceptualised framework hinged on the Schumpeter theory can help explain why entrepreneurship education is
failing to produce self-employing graduates who will create employment through the power of creative destruction.

Conceptual framework of entrepreneurship education and polytechnic graduate unemployment

Schumpeter

Effect

Figure 1
The conceptualised framework in Fig 1 is based on the understanding that if one does acquire motivation to
take up risk and was exposed to appropriate teaching and learning methods such as learning by doing or
experimental learning during the intervention mix, innovation and therefore creative destruction is more likely,
Schumpeter effect will set in, helping reduce unemployment (Asad, Ali and Islam, 2014). On the other hand, if one
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 An Examination of the Efficacy of Polytechnic Entrepreneurship Education Curriculum in Producing Self Employing Business
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does not acquire motivation to take up risk and are exposed to other teaching and learning methods short of
expository approaches creative destruction is less likely and the Schumpeter effect sets in. This is the case because
no employment is generated through the power of creative destruction as no new firm/ventures are created resulting
in high levels of unemployment. This study seeks to find out if this concept can help explain the levels of
polytechnic business studies graduate unemployment even after being exposed to entrepreneurship education. This
research seeks to marry the Schumpeter theory with other theories that come into in the teaching and learning as
shown in figure 1 in helping explain why entrepreneurship education curriculum is failing to inculcate and nurture
appropriate skills relevant to produce graduates ready for self employment.

III. Methodology
A case study research design was used in carrying out this research making use of the census, quota and
simple random sampling techniques to gather data. A total of 88 respondents comprising the fifty, 2014 and 2015
Gweru Polytechnic business graduates, eight entrepreneurship and business studies department lecturers and thirty
Gweru urban entrepreneurs in the financial services sector were used in this research. Data was collected using
questionnaires, interviews, observations and an analysis of records. Using descriptive statistical analysis a number of
insightful findings were made and the following conclusions drawn from those findings. The results coming out of
this study are therefore only peculiar and applicable to Gweru polytechnic business studies graduates but they do
provide an insight into similar cases and an opportunity to carry a national survey to establish the validity of the
findings of this research.

IV. Presentation and Discussion of findings

Why are business studies graduates not taking up self employment?
Respondents from all the three samples sighted the following as some of the reasons why graduates have
not undertaken self employment/entrepreneurship as career on completion of training

Respondents views on why graduates are not taking up self employment

Figure 2
Source; Survey data 2016
Figure 2 shows that adverse economic situation and lack of funding topped the list of the reasons why
business studies graduates are not going for self employment rendering the majority unemployed and some pursuing
further studies as the formal labour market is only able to absorb a few . This agrees with Murinda (2014)s view
that graduate unemployment and unemployment in general is largely blamed on poorly performing economic
fundamentals which ultimately affect the economys capacity to sustain and create jobs through the formal or
informal sector. These findings are however contrary to Matus et al (2014)s view that, in the seemingly adverse
economic situation there are pockets of growth notably in the financial sector due to the growth of the informal
sector. However, Oppong and Sachs (2015) argued that this would be a case of skills mismatch pointing to
curriculum implementation.
The other reason that was mostly noted was lack of balanced career guidance and a preference for formal
employment. This is analysed in the figure below, showing current business studies graduate status. Very few of the

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 An Examination of the Efficacy of Polytechnic Entrepreneurship Education Curriculum in Producing Self Employing Business
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graduates have taken up self employment as compared to those who secured formal employment, pursuing further
studies and unemployed with the hope of being formally placed.

Current business studies graduate status

Figure 3
Source; survey data 2016
Figure 3 shows an inclination towards formal employment pointing fingers at poor orientation and curricula
skewed towards formal employment which has failed to change the world view of graduates from job seekers to job
creators throughout the training period as was also noted by Akhuemonkhan et al (2013).
While it may seem an insignificant reason why graduates are not taking self employment motivation proved not
worth ignoring if viewed together with the reasons behind entrepreneurs choice of taking this as a career path as
shown in figure 4.4 below;
Reasons for choosing entrepreneurship as a career by entrepreneurs

Figure 4
Source; survey data 2016
It is important to note that as shown in figure 2, it is largely entrepreneurs who noted lack of self motivation
as one reason for graduates not venturing into self employment. Conversely, the graduates and the lecturers did not
recognise the power of self motivation in increasing ones propensity to take up self employment. The
entrepreneurs views agree with Dabale and Masese (2014) that motivation is a key determinant in taking up self
employment.
Still on figure 2 the respondents also noted lack of requisite business skills, risk taking and inability to
identify opportunities. It is these skills that entrepreneurship education is supposed to nurture in students in order to
increase their propensity for self employment after graduating as was noted by Okifo and Ayo (2013) and Dabale et
al (2014). Lack of these key attributes in graduates may point to gaps in entrepreneurship education curriculum
implementation.

Teaching, learning and assessment in entrepreneurship education

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One of the reasons cited for failure by graduates to take up self employment pertains to training offered.
Issues such as adequacy of training, methods that are being used and challenges encountered in the teaching learning
and assessment were raised in the responses.
Lecturers views on adequacy of entrepreneurship education curriculum

Figure 5
Source; survey data 2016
The majority of the lecturers rated the adequacy of the curriculum content as fairly adequate to inadequate
as shown above. They however cited lack of depth on curriculum content covered, pointing to the one year allocated
for entrepreneurship education and its highly theoretical nature. Sixty nine percent of the graduates and all the
lecturers interviewed bemoaned this period as inadequate in producing graduates ready for self employment. These
findings were further affirmed by the current polytechnic entrepreneurship education syllabus which shows more
weighting of at least ten percent and depth of coverage being given to selected areas. Areas such as understanding of
the concept entrepreneurship, the business environment, business planning, customer care and business ethics are
given more weighting leaving out some areas such as financial management and risk management which were only
weighted at five percent each.
The views of the lecturers on curriculum content adequacy can be contrasted with those of entrepreneurs on
the adequacy of training exhibited by graduates as shown by the rating in figure 6 below:

Entrepreneurs views on the adequacy of training shown by graduates

Figure 6
Source; Survey data 2016
It is such a fairly to inadequate curriculum in view of the lecturers that might help explain why eighty eight
of the entrepreneurs rated polytechnic graduates as fairly to poorly trained leaving only twelve percentage of the
entrepreneurs saying they are adequately trained as shown above. The majority of the graduate and lecturer
respondents highlighted that the target will be to complete the syllabus resulting in peripheral coverage in a more

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theoretical and purely academic way which was argued by Mauchi et al (2011), Valerio et al (2014) and Kee et al
(2006) to be detrimental in producing self employing graduates.

Teaching, learning and assessment methods

Figure 7
Source; survey data 2016
Research findings show that both the passive and the expository methods of teaching, learning and
assessment are being currently used at Gweru Polytechnic. However, all lecturers acknowledged that the common
method of teaching and learning is still predominantly the traditional lecture method which Mauchi et al (2011) and
Kee et al (2006) said focus more on rote learning which inhibits development of practical requisite business skills in
entrepreneurship education. All lecturers and the majority of graduates acknowledged that, the curriculum is too
theoretical as noted in the assignments or tasks and nature of assessment given, the lack of incubation facilities and
non-participation by learners on entrepreneurship forums and other related business forums. This footing contradicts
with the philosophy of John Dewey on learner centred education where learning by doing is commended to be an
important aspect in producing a complete and capable graduate. It is this lack of practicality which was also noted
by Gibcucs et al (2012), Akhuemonkhan et al (2013) and Kee et al (2006) as depriving the students the chance to
practice for perfection and be ready for self employment through more of learning by doing.

Challenges faced in the teaching, learning and assessment of entrepreneurship education

In implementing the entrepreneurship education curriculum, lecturers noted a number of challenges that
they encounter and derail the effective teaching, learning and assessment of entrepreneurship education which has a
negative effect in skills acquisition and producing graduates who are ready for self employment.
All the lecturers interviewed noted big class sizes, inadequate learning time, lack of funding from government and
institution and poor industry linkages were noted as some of the major challenges encountered in the teaching,
learning and assessment of entrepreneurship education. Observations confirmed an average lecturer student ratio of
not less than one hundred students per lecturer which is way beyond ministry standards. This was argued not to
effectively benefit learners from the teaching that will be taking place by Akpan and Etor (2013). The time allocated
was blamed for the manner in which the curriculum was being implemented with more focus being on completion of
the syllabus in order to meet academic requirements. This reduces all the teaching and learning to theory that was
denounced by Neck et al (2014) and Naong (2011) as inappropriate in producing graduates who are ready for self
employment. Very little if anything is being done to practicalise the curriculum through hands on training,
motivational acquisition through seminars and educational trips and participation on various business platforms like
the local Simba savannah reality pitch up show citing poor finding which was also noted by Dabale et al (2014) .
Lack of manpower training, current literature in the institutions library and supporting infrastructure and facilities
to provide incubation services to graduates were also cited as other challenges. Though lack of manpower training
was cited by a few lecturers, literature points at it as critical dimension in producing relevant graduates. Results
show that, all the lecturers in the entrepreneurship education and the business studies section who teach
entrepreneurship education did not specialise in entrepreneurship neither have they been entrepreneurs at meaning
entrepreneurial levels. Nwangwu and Etor et al cited in Akpan et al (2013) argue that, experience is imperative in
producing self employing graduates as was noted by Mauchi et al (2011) and Kee et al (2006) than reducing all

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teaching to theory. A close analysis shows that all these challenges are rooted in funding challenges and poor
entrepreneurial mindsets which has derailed the teaching, learning and assessment of entrepreneurship education.

Skills gaps in graduates

Entrepreneurship education is meant to nurture some attributes and skills in graduates so that they are ready
for self employment in the dynamic labour market which is showing a growth of the informal sector. Research
results showed that financial management, risk taking, creativity & innovation and self motivation are the highest
ranked attributes and are also seen to be lacking in the graduates being offloaded into the market. It is these
attributes that Matus et al (2014) referred to as soft skills that make up part of the so much needed skills in self
employing graduates and are supposed to be nurtured by entrepreneurship education. Looking at current polytechnic
curriculum and the weighting of the content material financial management, risk taking and self motivation are not
well addressed by the curriculum Financial management and risk taking are being given the least weighting of five
percent comparing this to other attributes which where weighted at plus ten percent. Research showed that less
attention was given to the acquisition and development of self motivation through learning and life experiences as
affirmed by the none use of motivational ways of learning such as seminars or lectures with entrepreneurs and
educational trips to successful entrepreneurs during training since the programme was introduced in 2010. This is in
contrast with Naongs view (2011) that, such activities are argued to be very important in stimulating students
learning process failure of which education may be said to have failed to stimulate that much needed motivation
(Dabale et al, 2014).This standing that some key attributes are not fully addressed by the curriculum and its content
may imply the curricula is not demand driven which point to a skills gap since the supply side does not match with
the requirements of the demand side.

Skills gaps in curriculum implementers

Skills gap were not just noted in the graduates only but also in the curriculum implementers themselves. It
is important that the implementers are well equipped to enable them to deliver effectively. Figure 8 below shows the
lecturers areas of specialisation against required skills:

Figure 8
Source; survey data 2016
The areas of specialisation the lecturers majored in viewed together with the implementers limited
involvement or practical experience in the field of entrepreneurship might signal a gap of the very skills they are
expected and mandated to nurture in order to mentor self employing graduates. All lecturing staff in the
entrepreneurship education and business studies have what Matus et al (2014) coined foundation skills, with most
of them having a minimum qualification of a degree in some business related area though none has majored in
entrepreneurship. This alone might have some quality and relevance connotation on the teaching, learning and
assessment of any curriculum. According to Mauchi et al (2011) and Neck et al (undated), lecturer qualification and

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experience ultimately reduces the teaching and learning of entrepreneurship education to a mere theory which is not
ideal in producing self employing graduates.

Suggestions to improve entrepreneurship education curriculum implementation

A number of suggestions were raised by all the respondents in order to improve entrepreneurship education so
that it can produce self employing graduates in the face of rising graduate unemployment in a shrinking formal
market. These include the following among several others:
Entrepreneurship education should be designed in a progressive manner and be allowed more time of at
least two years to enable an in-depth coverage of the curriculum.
Incorporating entrepreneurial motivational learning to enable a change of the mindsets of learners during
training from being job seeker to job creators through inviting renowned entrepreneurs to deliver a lecture
/seminars with the learners.
The teaching and learning should be more practical oriented.
There is a need for current and local literature in the libraries about entrepreneurship education to expose
the students as much as is possible to current local literature.

V. Recommendations
From the findings of this research, the following recommendations can be made:
1. Adequate quality manpower who are specialists and have hands on practical entrepreneurial experience or
who are actually practising should be engaged on a part time basis to teach entrepreneurship education to
ensure adequate and relevant skills acquisition.
2. Provision of periodic retraining of the curriculum implementers to keep them up to date with current
entrepreneurship trends across the globe and ultimately enhance the quality of teaching, learning and
assessment of entrepreneurship education.
3. The current polytechnic curriculum should be spread over the four year training period allowing students to
strategically progress and fully acquire all necessary practical entrepreneurial skills where they will
produce a portfolio profiling knowledge and skills acquired during the entire training period.
4. The institution through the relevant ministry should strive to provide adequate funding towards making the
curriculum as practically oriented as is possible. Making the curriculum practical may entail;
Allowing students to start their businesses during training and be assessed in addition to the
traditional three hour examination on the success of those businesses which assist practical skills
acquisition.
Improving relations between institutions and industry in order to facilitate motivational ways of
learning.
Embarking on educational trips and attending entrepreneurial conferences organised by the
entrepreneurial business community and the government help in sharing experiences and
knowledge on entrepreneurship.
Partnering with the industry in the establishment of incubational facilities for practical teaching
learning and assessment in and outside the institution.

VI. Conclusion
Based on the research findings it can be concluded that;
Entrepreneurship education curriculum implementation plays an indispensable role in producing self employing
graduates who are ready to create employment for themselves and others in the face of rising graduate. But, the
current polytechnic entrepreneurship education curriculum is not adequately preparing graduates for the world of
entrepreneurship since it is still largely supply driven with little insignificant input from the demand side giving rise
to a major skills gap. The training period allocated for entrepreneurship education curriculum implementation is not
adequate in moulding a graduate ready for self employment. The teaching, learning and assessment is still highly
theoretical with little practical components which is not conducive for producing graduates who are ready for self
employment. Curriculum implementers are not specialists in entrepreneurship neither do they have hands on
practical experience. Because of the foregoing it therefore becomes imperative that particular attention be given to
the pedagogical aspect of this kind of education so that they are expository as much as is possible as to enable
development of a relevant and productive graduate through engaging a variety of motivational ways of teaching and
learning.

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