By Jubril Bada

Determined to develop the capacities of the education managers and public servants in Ondo State, the State Government has flagged off training programmes for the mainstream civil servants.

The State Head of Service, Pastor Adeniran Adeyemo, who flagged off the programme yesterday at the State Public Service Training Institute (PSTI), Ilara-Mokin, Ifedore Local Government said it was continuous re-skilling and re-stooling efforts in Human Capital Development and to make the institute, a learning hub and regional leader in the South West.

The event ,which had in attendance former Head of Service, Prince Ajose Kudehinbu, Special Adviser to Governor on Education, Dr. Ilawole Omowunmi and government functionaries was titled “Executive Management Courses for Education Managers and Public Sector Managers for the Mainstream Civil Servants”.

Adeyemo explained that the two programmes ,Executive Management Course for Education Managers (for Education Officers and Teachers); and Executive Management Course in Public Sector Management (for other public servants) are in tandem with the Redemptive agenda of Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu “Educational Advancement and Human Capital Development” as encapsulated in the REDEEMED Agenda for the state.

According to him  “education advancement and preferment is a dream of every progressive minded person in any establishment and for this reason, we must all endeavour to put all hands on deck to ensure a smooth sail of the programmes and every knowledge acquired must be put to use in our various work places so as to promote competencies and productivity within the state public service”

He further said that the current downturn in the productivity index across Nigeria today suggested the need for the necessity of training and re-training  to fill identified knowledge gaps within public service in order to level up with the best practices globally.

“You must perspire to aspire otherwise you will expire” for us not to expire as civil servants, we must continue to improve ourselves on the daily basis” he said.

He appreciated Governor Akeredolu for his interest in developing the human resources base of the state.

Earlier, the Permanent Secretary and Director-General of the Institute, Pastor Jide Ekpobomini, stated that the two programmes  were to provide intervention in terms of additional qualifications and provide a rejigging in the knowledge base, competencies and productivities of public servants in the state.

Ekpobomini added that the programmes  tailored towards the needs of officers at management levels and beyond, having considered the identified knowledge gaps within the public service in the state.

The programme, he pointed out  will run in two batches per year for a period of six months each.

The permanent secretary called on all the stakeholders in the PSTI project to contribute their quotas  through valuable contribution, training and retraining in order to establish an institutional framework that will drive the institute for the betterment of all the stakeholders and the entire work force in the state

Highlight of the event include good will messages delivered by former State Head of Service l, Prince Ajose Kudehinbu, Special Adviser to Governor on Education, Dr. (Mrs.) Ilawole Olawunmi and Head of Faculty of the Institution, Dr. Jimi Foriji among others.