Over Poor Management

-Lawmaker Wants MVTC Detach From MYS

By Jackson C. Clay, Jr.

Montserrado County district number two lawmaker, Representative Jimmy Smith has alarmed over what he considers as poor management of the Monrovia Vocational Training Center (MVTC) and wants the entity to be detached from the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

According to a communication filed by Representative Smith to the Plenary of the House of Representatives which was read in plenary on Thursday, July 5, 2018, the lawmaker is requesting his colleagues to grant autonomous status to the MVTC through a Bill he submitted.

Representative Smith, in his communication told the plenary that following an investigation conducted by his office on the institution, the MVTC is not getting the necessary support from the Ministry of Youth and Sports, something he thinks is impeding the smooth running of the institution.

“It will interest you to note that the Monrovia Vocational Training Center (MVTC) which is considered as the nation’s largest vocational training center is not given the appropriate attention and support by authorities of the Ministry of Youth and Sports to allow our youths get quality technical vocational education,” Representative Smith noted in his communication.

The Montserrado County District #2 lawmaker furthered “after a detailed research and analysis, I have come to the realization that this is due to a bureaucratic bottleneck system at the Ministry of Youth and Sport which does not even allow the director of MVTIC or any administrator to have access to fund generated by the institution least to talk about payment of teachers’ salaries, except the Minister and his or her deputies.”

According to Representative Smith, this bureaucratic bottleneck system is at the extent where the director of the MVTC and his deputies cannot approve a petty cash for hygienic purposes, least to talk about the purchasing of educational materials for the institution.

The Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) lawmaker claimed that the MVTC does not have an Act or even a board of directors to steer the affairs of the entity.

He believes that granting the MVTC an autonomous status would according to him greatly speed up improvement at the MVTC and provides quality vocational training to students at the center.

Meanwhile, the plenary of the House of Representatives has forwarded the communication to its committees on Youth and Sports and Judiciary for proper perusal and report back to plenary for action.