Bridging the Curriculum–Competency Gap in Hospitality Education: Curriculum Relevance, Industry Readiness and Relevance Decay in Ghana

Abstract

Purpose – This study examines the curriculum–competency gap in hospitality Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in Ghana. It considers how curriculum relevance, experiential learning and job competency relate to industry readiness, while also examining what happens to curriculum–industry alignment as occupational and technological requirements change. Design/methodology/approach – The study uses directed qualitative content analysis of 12 purposively selected regulatory, development, institutional, industry and media documents published between 2021 and 2026. The analysis combined theoretically informed coding with comparison across sources, allowing both anticipated relationships and additional patterns in the documentary evidence to be identified. Findings – The evidence shows that curriculum relevance is important for developing competencies that reflect occupational requirements, but relevant content alone does not ensure that graduates are prepared for work. Experiential learning provides opportunities for learners to apply and refine curriculum-based knowledge in workplace settings. Industry readiness consequently depends not only on competency development but also on whether those competencies correspond with what hospitality employers currently require. The analysis also points to a temporal problem: as technologies, work practices and employer expectations change, an initially relevant curriculum may become progressively less aligned with industry requirements if educational adaptation is slow. This pattern informed the concept of curriculum relevance decay, while curriculum adaptability emerged as an institutional response to the problem. Research limitations/implications – The findings are based on documentary evidence and do not provide longitudinal confirmation of curriculum relevance decay. The concept should therefore be treated as a theoretically informed explanation requiring further empirical testing through longitudinal, multi-stakeholder and quantitative research. Practical implications – Maintaining curriculum relevance requires more than periodic curriculum review. Hospitality TVET institutions need continuing engagement with employers, meaningful workplace learning, appropriate technologies and mechanisms for identifying emerging competency requirements before substantial gaps develop.