Civil Service Institute trains more technical supervisors

The Institute of Technical Supervision (ITS) under the Office of the Head of the Civil Service, has passed-out 49 students after a nine-week training to build technical capacity to help increase efficiency in service delivery.

The trainees, mainly middle-level supervisors from various civil and public sector institutions, underwent the 30th Senior/Special Junior Technical

Supervisory Management Course to sharpen their technical and supervisory skills. The course commenced on March 11 and ended on Friday July 26 this year with 31 senior officers and another 18 junior officers from organisations including the Volta River Authority (VRA), Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GHAPOHA), ministries of Environment and Defence as well as School of Communication studies, University of Ghana.

Other trainees came from districts assemblies like the Akatsi South, Bulsa, West Mamprusi Obuasi and Accra Metropolitan Assembly.

Topics treated included - improvement techniques, occupational health and safety, costing and estimation of engineering work, attitudinal change, secrecy and confidentiality, time and stress management, fire fighting and prevention, national security, ethical leadership and planning for formal retirement.

The Principal of the ITS, Mr John Nii Okinejan Welbeck said the institute was established in 1958 to train technical staff of the public sector while the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) was established to train administration staff.

He expressed unhappiness that most of the Institute’s land acquired by government had been taken by private developers and called for urgent intervention by the State to reclaim what had been lost and to prevent further encroachment.

Mr Welbeck said security situation at the Institute was not good because of the absence of a fence wall and noted also that the proliferation of churches and their accompanying noise-making within the vicinity was also disturbing learning.

Mr Isaac Kwasi Aidoo, Director, Human Resources of the VRA, who spoke on the theme: “Technical Training and Practice in National Development” said the course was timely in that it would help equip the technical supervisors to diligently supervise government’s projects within the ten public sector institutions.

He said technical, vocational, education and training (TVET) were critical not only to the process of development, but to the national development goal of poverty alleviation.

Mr Aidoo, therefore, appealed to all stakeholders and development partners to help draw up a TVET system that would “be able to hold us to be more relevant, better and bigger in implementing do-able actions for TVET improvement towards poverty alleviation and sustainable development.”

Mr Joseph K. Bonney, Course Prefect, said the training had been of great benefit to the participants because it had addressed staff weakness in the discharge of duties, improved performance and built confidence level.

All the students were presented with certificate while those who excelled were awarded with other gift presentations.

Mr Benjamin Banibensu won the over-all best trainee of the 30th Senior Course 2013 Award, while Mr Joseph Tawiah Doku took the overall best Special Junior Course Award.