In a bid to improve the quality of teaching and upgrade the skills of its staff in Information and Communication Technology (ICT), the Federal Polytechnic, Oko, has seen the need to train its senior staff.
The aim of the training, according to authorities, is to speed up service delivery, reduce information leakage and equip senior officers in data analysis and electronic file management.
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About 220 senior staff of the polytechnic, last week, were trained on ICT by the ICT unit of the institution in partnership with a global networking expert, Cisco Networking Academy.
During the training, 107 deputy registrars and principal assistant registrars were trained, while 120 accountants, assistant chief accountants, senior assistant registrars, assistant registrars and Chief Executive Officers (CEO) will begin their training next week.
This is in addition to the over 100 staff that were trained a few months ago where each participant was given a brand new configured HP laptop by the management of the institution.
The training, which was initiated by the institution’s governing council and management, received a lot of commendations from the participants.
Some participants who spoke to Daily Trust said the training, which was purely practical-oriented, covered areas such as computer appreciation, desktop and file management, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and data management, would not only increase their output but also deepen their knowledge of ICT.
One of the participants, Mr Dominic Onuoha, a deputy registrar, said the Mallam Kale Kawu-led governing council had by the gesture demonstrated strong desire to fast track development and staff welfare in the polytechnic.
He said, “This training will hopefully reduce delay in file treatment, computation of students’ results and certificates, printing, and most importantly, reduce loss of files occasioned by manual handling of official documents and records.”
The Head of Department, Students Record and Statistics, Alexander Onyewuchi Anukam, said analogue handling of documents was no longer in vogue.
He said, “I had said earlier that the idea of digitising the entire system is the best, as the analogue system is no longer in vogue in most tertiary institutions. If management digitises offices and the administrators are incapable of making use of the facilities, it will be a waste.”
Speaking on the development, the Chairman of the Governing Council, Mallam Kawu, expressed satisfaction with the level of compliance of the categories of officers slated for the training, adding that senior officers in this 21st Century should be able to master how to retrieve information, records and files fast by querying a database.
He further said, “Every deputy registrar, and of course senior officers, should have certain level of knowledge of the use of the computer because there are some confidential documents they need to type by themselves to reduce leakage of information. So, it’s a good development.
Kawu commended the management of the polytechnic led by the Rector, Engr (Dr) Francisca Nwafulugo, for taking the giant strides of sustaining a high class ICT centre and skilled staff that were conducting the training.
The Rector, Engr Nwafulugo, noted that other categories of staff would join the training by next week, promising to provide a conducive atmosphere for more professional trainings.
She also informed that the certificate which would be issued after the training would be considered in subsequent staff promotions and duty posting, noting that no senior staff would get any duty post without an ICT certificate.
She further revealed that her administration had provided opportunities for various trainings, internationally and locally, for many staff through TETFund sponsorship.
She said, “It is only by regular acquisition of knowledge, training and re-retraining, especially in modern technology, that the institution would grow. I will make sure I combine this with my desperate push for staff and students’ welfare.”
Engr Nwafulugo, who is the first female rector of the polytechnic, promised to continue to encourage cross-fertilisation of ideas, while thanking the council members for their cooperation in uplifting the banner of the bold colours of the polytechnic.
In his remarks during the opening ceremony of the training, the ICT Director of the polytechnic, Engr Ken Nnamani, stated the need for staff to meet up with the 21st Century digital world, saying the world had gone beyond manual handling of documents.
The ICT director noted that the training would enable the trainees to gain more knowledge on how to perform mathematical calculations, budgeting and other data by the use of spray sheets.
According to Engr Nnamani, after the training, they will administer examinations and the results and issuance of certificates will be for only those that pass the examinations.
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