Tema, Jan 02, GNA -- The Gratis Foundation has since its inception in 1987 by the government trained a total of 12,730 people in engineering and non-engineering. With a three-year training course in engineering and four months in batik, tie/dye and smock making termed as non engineering, 80 percent of the trainees are employed in industry and in the public sector while 20 percent are self employed.

Mr Kwabena Adu Amaniampong, Training Manager and Technical Apprentice Coordinator of Gratis Foundation, said this to the GNA in an interview on Tuesday. He said males dominated in engineering training while more females also opted for the non-engineering sector. He expressed the hope that the trend could change as more females are now showing interest in the engineering section.

Explaining why many people fail to enroll in engineering, Mr Amaniampong attributed this to high prices of equipment that the students cannot afford to buy. Also, students find it difficult to access loans from financial institutions. He said this was defeating the purpose of setting up the foundation to promote small, medium scale enterprise. Previously, Mr Amaniampong said, the European Union and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) assisted in the provision of the equipment on high purchase but the offer has ceased. He appealed to the Metropolitan, Municipal and District assemblies to intervene with financial assistance to enable the foundation to train more people.