OIC APPEALS FOR GOVERNMENT SUPPORT (OCT 29, 2009, PAGE 30)

MANAGEMENT of the Sekondi/Takoradi branch of the Opportunities Industrialisation Centre (OIC) has made a passionate appeal to the government to assist the centre to get support from the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) to expand its teaching and learning facilities.
Management has therefore called on the Western Regional Coordinating Council to intervene on behalf of the centre to get assistance from the fund.
It has also appealed to all public spirited organisations and institutions as well as individuals to assist the centre to improve on its activities.
The centre is in need of funds to run its administration and also expand its infrastructural facilities, especially classrooms to ensure smooth teaching and learning at the centre.
The expansion of the centre’s classroom facilities would also enable it to increase admissions at the centre.
Currently, the government funding is basically for personnel emoluments while other activities of the centre are heavily funded by local and international donor agencies, companies, institutions, families and individuals.
The centre also operates a small scale production unit which engages in furniture and coffins production, metal works, building construction and repair works, block moulding, batik tie-dye production, canteen services and general secretarial services.
Proceeds from such economic ventures are used to complement government and community effort to sustain the programme.
To minimise the level of financial dependence on donor agencies, the OIC- Sekondi/Takoradi seeks to establish an Opportunity Investment Fund within a period of three years to serve as the main source of funding for the centre.
Besides funding, the centre also faces other challenges, including lack of adequate classrooms and modern workshop equipment.
The Programme Manager of the centre, Mr Moses Amoamah Antwi, explained to the Daily Graphic that the capacity for each existing classroom was supposed to be 25 trainees.
However, he said the same classroom was now being occupied by 75 trainees, about three times its capacity.
“This has brought pressure on the entire facility. The centre has outgrown its capacity and this calls for immediate attention”, he pointed out.
Mr Antwi therefore appealed to the Western Regional Minister, Mr Paul Evans Aidoo, to intervene by helping the centre to get support from the Ghana Education Trust Fund to expand the centre’s facilities.
He said the centre had enough land to embark on such expansion programme.
He said the centre needed modern workshop equipment that would enhance the quality of skills training and also meet the current manpower needs of industries, institutions and vocations.
“We will, therefore call on the individual, corporate institutions, churches, the traditional authorities and the government to consider equipping the centre with modern equipment to enhance its operations”, he appealed.
Another enormous challenge facing the centre is the perennial flooding of the entire centre every year as a result of the very poor drainage system of the area.
“The entire centre is surrounded by a very poor drainage system which is a threat to our very existence in the metropolis”, Mr Antwi said, adding “And even as the rains set in we are not sure what would be our fate, we therefore call on the metropolitan assembly, corporate institutions and individuals to come to our aid to reconstruct the drainage system”.
Mr Antwi pointed out that the centre needed either a face-lift or relocation, since it was training a lot of people, most of whom had completed their Basic Education Certificate Examination.
The Opportunities Industrialisation Centre (OIC) Sekondi/Takoradi is a government subvented educational institution, under the Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare, contributing to the human development agenda of the ministry.
The centre was established in 1977 with four skill areas, namely office management and secretarial skills, carpentry, masonry and auto body repairs.
Currently, the centre provides two-year training in office management and secretarial skill up to the stenography level, computer skills, carpentry and joinery, masonry (construction), building draughtsmanship and welding and fabrication.
It also provides training in textile decoration, batik tie-dye and soap making, dress making, hair dressing, integrated English and mathematics and counselling services.
Since its establishment the centre has turned out about 5,000 skilled professionals in the various courses.
From 1977 to 1985 OIC Sekondi/Takoraddi was funded by the government, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), international donor agencies and the local community.
After 1985, funding came primarily from the government of Ghana, and since then the structural adjustment programme, arising out of the Economic Recovery Programme in the country in the mid eighties has drastically altered the level of funding OIC Sekondi/Takoradi receives from the government.