Abstract:

Introduction
Countries all over the world are redefining policies that govern tertiary education to ensure that citizens get equal access to tertiary education. The concept of access to tertiary education among the working group in Ghana is not only seen as necessary for the development of the individual student but more importantly, for the socio-economic development of the country as a whole. Initiatives by individuals who want to pursue further education are often met by greater challenges such as funding, choice of program and recognition by employers on completion of the programme. Factors such as; government policy in identifying labour market needs for graduates and the financial aspects of training students affect enrollment.

Problem statement
The trend towards diversifying tertiary education all over the world was aimed at providing post-secondary education as a right to all citizens of countries irrespective of socio-economic background, sex, race, age, and physical disability. The study identifies student selectivity processes in Cape Coast Polytechnic and explores ways of increasing students’ enrollment especially among the working group in the face of challenges from government access policies.

Research Questions
The research questions were;
- How does government restrictive access policies affect intake of qualified applicants among the working group into polytechnic?
- How effectively can the Polytechnic increase student enrollment particularly among the working group by the use of the market model under institutional governance?
Sub-research questions,
- What alternatives are available to the polytechnic in overcoming the institutional challenges that hinder mass tertiary education in the Polytechnic among the working group?
- What are the general demands for polytechnic education among the working group?

Study design, Instruments and methodology
The study methodology comprised of research design, instrumentation and data analysis that was carried out in the Cape Coast Polytechnic and some selected organization in the Cape Coast Municipality. Qualitative data analysis was used and it took the form of semi-structured interview and quantitative data analysis included semi-structured and structured questionnaires.

Findings of the study
The development of market model approach in Cape Coast Polytechnic is one way the study recognizes as cannon for increasing students’ enrollment rates among the working group in the institution without necessarily depending on government funding. Secondly, demands for continuous education are best explained through a market model approach.

References:

Schuller, T., Raffe, D., & Morgan-Klein, B. C. I., (1999). Part-Time Higher Education, policy, practice and experience. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, London and Philadelphia.

Dalin, P. (2005). School Development, Issues and strategies. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data.

De Groof, J., Neave R.J. & Svec, J. (1998). Democracy and Governance in Higher Education. Kluwer Law International.