British Council, partners hold customer service week seminar in Accra

The Acting Country Director of the British Council, Ghana and Cameroon, Mr ChikodiOnyemerela, has advised businesses and organisations to give a voice to their customers.

That, he said, would enable them better understand customers’ needs and improve service delivery to keep them in business.

Mr Onyemerela gave the advice at a seminar organised by the British Council as part of its customer week celebrations where partners and beneficiaries of their programmes exhibited their works.

The seminar offered the British Council the opportunity to show appreciation to customers who had subscribed to its various programmes and services.

The Country Director indicated that British Council had the vision to meet“touch points” that mattered to its customers through its programming.

“We do not create programmes because we want to create them. We engage our stakeholders and customers to understand what they actually want. The customer is at the heart of our design and evaluation system,” he added.

Mr Onyemerela said the seminar was important to change public misconception about the Council as an organisation that offered only examination services.

He explained that the British Council offered variety of programmes in the area of Arts, Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) and Higher Educational demands to meet customer needs.

The team lead of the Institute of Higher Education(IHE) Programme, Mrs Akorfa Dawson lauded the British Council for it’s several interventions in the educational sector particularly it’s flagship programme; the Innovation for Africa Universities (IAU).

The programme, according to Mrs Dawson had strengthened the capabilities of higher educational institutions in the Sub-Saharan, Africa, United Kingdom (UK) and the entrepreneurial ecosystem to churn out entrepreneurial and employable graduates.

Additionally, she said, as a way of bridging the gap between industry and academia, the Council under the IHE programme had formed partnerships with 24 institutions of higher learning including four universities from Ghana.

They include the University of Health and Allied Science (UHAS), Regional Maritime University, University of Ghana (UG), Legon and the Accra Technical University (ATU).

For his part, the team lead for the Arts programme, Mr Andrew Entsua-Mensah, said the British Council was keen on the development of arts and culture which it had exhibited through the offering of grants to institutions in supporting arts projects while harnessing potentials.

He continued that the Council would not relent in its support to the art and cultural sector.

The Customer Service Manager, Mr Michael Nortey, reiterated the Council’s commitment in ensuring the customers provided with the best customer services.

As part of the seminar, team leaders for the various programmes and services of the Council delivered presentations on various initiatives already undertaken and those yet to be taken.

BY ABIGAIL ANNOH