Accra, Oct. 31, GNA - Mr. Sam Owusu-Agyei, Minister of Public Sector Reform, on Wednesday commissioned an ultra-modern French language laboratory at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) to be used in training public servants to enable to them communicate effectively with their Francophone counterparts. The French Government sponsored the study room that can seat 25 people. It has two permanent lecturers, books on tourism and diplomacy and would have a 750-hour learning programme for both beginners and those who would want to sharpen their skills in the language. Mr Owusu-Agyei said the establishment of the facility was one of the concrete interventions for quick implementation of an agreement signed between the two countries in December last year. He said the laboratory specifically designed for public servants would also help them to have good command of the language to enable them to participate in various activities and having closer interactions with their colleagues around the world.
Mr Owusu-Agyei noted that the French government had made available scholarship packages to Ghanaian public servants and urged them to take the learning of the language seriously. "I challenge all public servants who will come to the laboratory at GIMPA to study seriously and achieve an appreciable skill level which will make communication with their colleagues in neighbouring francophone countries much easier." Mr Pierre Jacquemot, French Ambassador, lauded the cooperation the two countries had enjoyed over the past decade and said the facility was to improve the relationship through the study of the language. He observed that the French were partnering Ghana in many areas to ensure the holistic development of the country. Prof. Stephen Adei, Rector of GIMPA, said the institute acknowledged the importance of imparting French language skills to public servants and therefore thanked the French government for the Laboratory.
He said the laboratory would have a well structured programme by February next year to train 300 civil servants as beginners and 150 in advanced French. Mr Joe Issachar, Head of the Office of the Civil Service, said since Ghana was surrounded by francophone countries, it was vital that the study of the language was encouraged to enhance effective communication. He said there would be special training courses for security officials especially those stationed at the country's borders to make communication easy for them.
