The Africa International Institute of Science and Technology (AIIST) has graduated 178 young people in computer science with twelfth of the graduates coming from the Liberia Land Authority (LLA) through a World Bank sponsorship.
AIIST offers an innovative way to learn and grow from a beginner level to a certified expert in Information Technology within 18th months' time.
The graduation ceremony which was held recently in Monrovia saw scores of government officials, particularly from the LLA, acquiring skills in office productivity and management systems so as to increase professional and standard public output through the usage of technology.
The eighth commencement convocation speaker was Mr. Floyd Oxley Sayor, a commissioner at the National Elections Commission (NEC).
In his address at the occasion, Sayor chided all unprofessional and unproductive attitudes exhibited by many professionals in Liberian society and cautioned the graduates to not emulate such ugly work attitudes.
"As an IT person, you must have patience, most especially when you are called to help develop a software for a client. In order to have a project implemented, you must have an undivided goal with an unwavering attention strictly focused on what you are called to do," he said, noting that IT Specialists are not ordinary people but scientists.
Sayor, an IT expert and a former head of the IT department at NEC registered to the graduates and the rest of the audience under his voice that patience is key in the practice of Information Technology (IT) and that anyone who underestimates patience in the business of IT fails often times and loses sight on success.
"This career path you have chosen is not an easy one. It requires you to spend a lot of your time almost everyday on exploring and continuously learning new ideas to make your worth demanding and marketable," Commissioner Sayor said, adding that "as an IT personnel, it is always be clean and neat because presidents, directors or managers will always leave their seats for you to check out and fix a problems affecting computers."
"Therefore, if you are removing somebody from his or her seat you must smell good," he emphasized.
Sayor urged the graduates to take advantage of opportunities and market themselves in order to be considered for good contracts or possible employment.
He thanked AIIST for contributing to a better society by training people in the application of technology.
The President of AIIST, Madam Zainab O. Assaf said her institution provides computer education for people who need jobs and, or will want to improve themselves for career opportunities.
Assaf said AIIST, which is one of the fastest growing institutions in the Republic, is hoping and aspiring to fulfill the vision and mission of its proprietor by building human resource capacities of Liberians.
She named information management system, computer awareness, office productivities, operating system and QuickBooks as some of the basic programs her institution offers.
"Currently, the AIIST is providing training for several government entities including the Liberia Land Authority, Immigration, Fire Service, Liberia National Police as well as individuals who are so desiring of improving themselves in IT," AIIST's president noted.
She thanked the World Bank for believing in AIIST, particularly for training the LLA staff to boost service delivery.
Assaf continued by calling on the World Bank office in Liberia to keep looking the way of AIIST for the provision of better training opportunities for the Liberian workforce.
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She concluded "We want that relationship to continue and anytime they have staff members to train we will always be available for them."
One of the beneficiaries from the Liberia Land Authority (LLA), Ms. Weyata S. Gibson thanked the World Bank through the AIIST for the training.
Gibson, who works in the Planning and Policy Department at LLA, said thought it was not her first-time doing computers, however, the training by AIIST to them will never be forgotten because what I learned in Ghana is quite different from what AIIST taught us in Liberia.
She said, "We learned eleven courses at AIIST. We did computer awareness, Windows, Words, Excel, MS Power Point, Window Outlook, Internet and Maintenance, etc."
Gibson used the occasion to extend gratitude to the World Bank Group family in Liberia for the great opportunity and promise to use it for the intended purpose.
