DOI: 10.36347/sjebm.2018.v05i05.001

Pages: 344-353

Throughout the world, university fashion training programs should contribute to supply of manpower for apparel industry. Studies have noted that most African countries lack high-skilled workers in apparel design. The absence of qualified managers and design experts in Kenya has been attributed to lack of explicit human resource development plans in the entire textile industry, due to the fact that mainstream academic institutions offering courses in the field of fashion and apparel design have not been adequate. This study sought to establish the challenges facing university training in fashion and apparel design. The study population was made up of all the departments in Kenyan universities offering university undergraduate fashion and apparel design programs (UUGFADPs). Thirty two (32) university fashion and apparel design staff (UFADS) [lecturers and technicians], 99 third and fourth year university undergraduate fashion and apparel design students (UUFADS) were selected purposively, and 54 university fashion and apparel design graduates (UFADGs) and 22 employers of university fashion and apparel design graduates (EUFADGs) were selected through snowball sampling. Questionnaires were employed in data collection and Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyse data. This paper shows that the most significant challenges facing the UUGFADPs included inadequate learning materials and equipment, obsolete technology; an outdated curriculum, inadequate staffing, inadequate practical training, insufficient learning/teaching space, inappropriate learning/ teaching methods, inadequate industrial exposure and few reference materials. Consequently, the paper observes that for the programs to give adequate training for a competitive FA industry, these challenges should be addressed by the relevant stakeholders.