By: Sandally Sawo
The Minister of Tourism and Culture, Hamat Bah, has said the Gambia Tourism and Hospitality Institute (GTHI) has been overwhelmed by the sheer number of applications for courses this year, disclosing that more than 20,000 people have applied for an enrolment in the institute that can only absorb 2000 students.
“More than 20,000 people have applied for courses at the Gambia Tourism and Hospitality Institute (GTHI) but we cannot absorb more than 2000,” the tourism minister revealed on Wednesday during one of President Barrow’s Meet-The-People tour meetings in Farafenni.
Mr. Bah, however, hinted that there’s a silver lining in the seeming dark cloud hanging over GTHI.
He said the capacity constraint at the tourism and hospitality training institute has galvanized the Gambia government into adopting measures to be able to train more Gambians.
“This is why the Gambia government has taken measures to increase the school’s capacity to be able to train a minimum of 10,000 a year to provide them jobs here and overseas,” Minister Bah said.
He explained that efforts were underway to secure assistance from Qatar in the form of equipment with a view to increasing GTHI’s capacity.
“Barrow has approached others and they promised to help. Barrow has been giving scholarships in the areas of agriculture, science, technology, and engineering. Govt is geared toward helping them [GTHI], too,” Bah said.