Institute of Correctional Studies (ICOST) of Maldives Correctional Service (MCS) has held the closing ceremony of “Middle Managers Refresher” Programme yesterday at Maafushi Prison. The Programme was conducted to develop and refresh prison officers working in middle management.
The five-day Programme was conducted to further develop and refresh prison officers working in middle management. A total of 18 prison officers participated in the programme.
The main purposes of the programme was to refresh modules taught in Basic Training Course, induct participants to regulations and procedures of Maldives Correctional Service, to encourage participants in providing services to inmates and remanded persons to the best of their ability, impart knowledge and induct participants on changes brought to prisons and leadership qualities, the importance of achieving an education and training as well as demonstrate qualities of a prison officers such as good behaviour and keeping physically fit.
The closing ceremony was honoured by Commissioner of Prisons Ahmed Mohamed Fulhu, while Deputy Commissioner of Prisons Uz Ibrahim Mohamed Didi, Assistant Commissioner of Prisons Mohamed Asif, Director of Maafushi Prison Assistant Superintendent of Prisons Ahmed Jaadhulla and senior management of Maafushi Prison and Deputy Director of ICOST SPO Ahmed Luqman also attended the ceremony.
While speaking at the ceremony, Commissioner of Prisons Ahmed Mohamed Fulhu focused on the value of an existing workforce in the Organisation that were capable of solving problems that arise in a rapidly changing environment and stated that it is important to create a healthy, competitive spirit for advancement among officers while utilising more of the facilities and opportunities provided to give optimal results. He also commented on the need to increase the number of higher-educated people in the Organisation and noted the requirement of educated, skilled and capable people in various field at MCS. The Commissioner stated that there are 22.7 percent graduates among managerial level, while the graduate-percentage was at 4.3 percent among the middle managers and 2 percent at the junior level. Referring to the figures, he believed a lot had to be done in order to transform MCS workforce into a professional work, said the Commissioner. He further stated that experience is weighed in two ways and the work done after getting full information, educational knowledge along with skill will result in innovative ideas to resolve issues at a speedier pace and hence more work had to be done to build an intelligent workforce. The Commissioner requested participants to portray the knowledge gained in the training practically when executing their duties.
He further added that there are several agencies formed within the system to monitor the actions of MCS, and being accountable to these agencies about the services being provided to inmates and remanded persons means that the work load may get double. The Commissioner requested to improve the service and performance while also improving the speed of service, and to take initiative in trying to find solutions to present to the top level rather than expecting a solution for issues from the top level all the time.
