European Journal of Engineering Education Vol. 37, No. 2, May 2012, 205–215 Assessing the Higher National Diploma Chemical Engineering programme in Ghana: students’ perspective Cyril D. Boateng*, Edem Cudjoe Bensah and Julius C. Ahiekpor Department of Chemical Engineering, Kumasi Polytechnic, PO Box 854, Kumasi, Ghana (Received 9 September 2011; final version received 27 January 2012) Chemical engineers have played key roles in the growth of the chemical and allied industries in Ghana but indigenous industries that have traditionally been the domain of the informal sector need to be migrated to the formal sector through the entrepreneurship and innovation of chemical engineers. The Higher National Diploma Chemical Engineering programme is being migrated from a subject-based to a competency- based curriculum. This paper evaluates the programme from the point of view of students. Data were drawn from a survey conducted in the department and were analysed using SPSS. The survey involved administering questionnaires to students at all levels in the department. Analysis of the responses indicated that the majority of the students had decided to pursue chemical engineering due to the career opportunities available. Their knowledge of the programme learning outcomes was, however, poor. The study revealed that none of the students was interested in developing indigenous industries. Keywords: Chemical engineering; higher national diploma; curriculum development; student perception; Ghana 1. Introduction Founded on the principles of chemistry, physics and mathematics and applied throughout the process industries, chemical engineering involves the development of safe and environmentally- friendly processes and products, as well as the design and operation of plants in which materials undergo changes in their physical or chemical state. In Ghana, chemical engineering was practised mainly in the minerals sector, especially in the mining of gold, manganese, diamonds and other minerals, during the colonial era. Since independence in 1957, the chemical engineering industry has expanded with the development of agro-based industries, which focused on the processing of agricultural produce such as, inter alia, cocoa, rubber, cotton, shea-nuts, oil-palm, sugarcane, cassava, fish, tomatoes and livestock, into intermediates and finished products for both the local and the international market. The establishment of major companies such as Volta Aluminium Company Limited and Tema Oil Refinery not only served as a major driver of Ghana’s economy, but as the backbone of the chemical engineering profession, in the sense that the two contributed greatly towards chemical engineering education in Ghana. The establishment of Lever Brothers Ghana Limited, a consumer *Corresponding author. Email: cyrilboat@yahoo.com ISSN 0304-3797 print/ISSN 1469-5898 online © 2012 SEFI http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03043797.2012.667390 http://www.tandfonline.com