The Chief Executive Officer of GRATIS Foundation, Mr. Emmanuel Asiedu has stated that the foundation is set to transform into a technical university to fulfill its mandate of creating jobs through industrialization.
The move, according to him will expand the foundation’s operations to improve the technical knowledge of Ghanaians working under the scheme.
“Now, GRATIS wants to upgrade our training so that we will be an applied university. We are going to apply the knowledge we acquire. If you qualify as an automobile engineer, you must build a car body or an engine. That is what we call applied university,” he said.
Mr. Asiedu spoke to Citi Business News at the sidelines of a short ceremony in Accra, when the Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr. Ekow Spio-Garbrah presented two vehicles to the GRATIS foundation and the National Board for Small Scale Industry.
He explained that as part of the requirements, students are compelled to practically demonstrate how theories propounded on paper can be implemented.
“We are not going to give you topics to come and give us analysis, chapter one, chapter two… we are going to do practical work that can be tested,” he said.
He stated that the requirement is geared towards encouraging the students to practically implement everything they learn under the scheme.
Mr. Asiedu debunked the notion that the foundation was only engaged in the manufacturing of cutlasses and other simple farm tools.
“GRATIS does not produce cutlasses. As part of our mandates, we help individual business owners who have the technical skills to implement their ideas. We have done that for many people,” he said.
He stated that the foundation has helped some business owners to build fufu pounding machines, rice processing plants, palm oil processing plants and gari processing plants.
He stated that the foundation has been able to create about 500 jobs in the first quarter of this year.
–
By: Lawrence Segbefia/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana
