Kumasi, Dec. 4, GNA - The Publishing Studies Programme at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), has made significant impact on the nation's publishing industry.

A study conducted last year, indicated that the programme had since its establishment 25 years ago, produced a total of 955 graduates. Mr Isaac Kofi Appiah, a lecturer at the University, disclosed these when he was presenting a paper at a public lecture on the role of publishing training on industry in Kumasi.

He said out of 350 workers interviewed, 234, representing 67 per cent, were working in publishing-related establishments, 61 of them, constituting 17 per cent, were teachers and 55, representing 16 per cent, were working at other institutions.

Mr Appiah called for extension of the period of industrial attachment for students of publishing studies to one year, to enable them to acquire sufficient experience and appealed to lecturers of the Publishing Department to upgrade their knowledge.

Reverend Dr. Edem Kwaku Tettey, a lecturer at the University, presenting a paper on "attaining professionalism in the book industry of Ghana: where are you going?" called on government and other stakeholders to help inject sanity into the publishing and printing industry. He suggested the formation of a professional body to regulate the activities of the industry to enable it serve as one of the major sources of revenue to the country.