At least 27 participants have been awarded certificates after successfully completing a six-week intensive training course of the 15th in-service training program for record personnel from various departments in government.

The six-week long training included 13 days of classroom instruction, visit to departmental record centres and deleberation on topics such as the handling of incoming and outgoing mails, creating and recording the existence of new files and electronic record management, among others.

The training was designed to familiarise and equip the participants with the requisite knowledge and skills necessary to perform their duties optimally.

During the course of the training, participants were also introduced and exposed to the principles, concepts and practices governing records management.

The topics of the training course for the participants were selected to ensure that the training impacts positively on their career now and in the future. After being equipped with the skills to promote operational efficiency, participants are expected to apply the acquired skills and share experiences with their colleagues, with the ultimate aim of becoming more beneficial to the wider community.

Declaring the training closed, Elizabeth Bahoum, director, national record service, paid homage to President Jammeh for donating them a brand new 4 wheel Mitshubishi pickup which, she said, the entire staff of the National Record Service has been very much appreciative of. She described President Jammeh as illustrative, industrious and a patriotic son of The Gambia, and praised him for his benevolence, magnanimity and love for operational efficiency.

Madam Bahoum tasked the participants to remember to operate within the framework of confidentiality for the information resources they control, noting that they were the fundamentals of policy formulation. Informed decision making, she went on, accountability, transparency, security and preservation should always be the watch words of participants."Your operational roles in taking this great nation to higher heights, therefore, are enormous and should be shouldered with maximal professionalism", she noted.

For his part, Bartha Marong, course coordinator, thanked all the participants at the training. He challenged them to make the best use of the knowledge and skills acquired during the course of the training.