Civil Servants attend workshop on records management

Mr Joe Issachar, Head of the Civil Service, on Monday called for constant upgrading of knowledge and skills by the personnel of the Service in order to meet national and global demands.

He said promotion of professional standards was required in all sectors of the Service to ensure improved productivity.

Mr Issachar made the call at the opening of a two-week Records Management workshop organised by his office with sponsorship from the Commonwealth Secretariat for middle level civil servants.

About 50 participants from the Ministries, Departments and Agencies are expected to be trained on record types and Cycle; classification systems, physical protection and security and record centre procedures.

He noted that records management formed an important component of the service's day-to-day activities saying "it is the records that you keep which help the politician to make policies and other developmental decisions".

Mr Issachar said the Service would computerize all data and therefore charged the participants to utilize the knowledge that would be acquired.

Mr Alex Kwaning, a representative of Commonwealth Secretariat, said though efficient record management was critical to the country's development, it had been relegated to the background.

He said the secretariat would continue to train practitioners, especially in electronic records management, as a management tool needed for specific duties in the service.