The Institute of Local Government Studies (ILGS) has admitted 147 students on its four Masters Programmes for the 2012/2013 academic year.

The students are made of 126 males and 21 females representing an increase of 81 per cent as against the 2011/2012 academic year.

The programmes include Local Government Administration and Organisation, Local Economic Development, Environment Science Policy and Management and Local Government Financial Management.

Speaking at the Second Joint Matriculation in Accra, Professor Kwasi Kwafo Adarkwa, Former Vice Chancellor of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology expressed excitement that such high calibre personnel could be trained locally and in a cost effective manner.

He said without the institution students would have been trained abroad at a great expense to the nation and over a long period of time.

“This why you should all support the efforts of the institute by studying hard so that in the shortest possible time, we see District Assemblies operate more efficiently so we, as a country, can have real value for pure limited resources,” he said.

To the matriculates, Prof Adarkwa said they are expected to play a key role in the decentralisation programme in the country saying: “You can imagine what the various Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies will be like without skilled personnel like you.”

He asked the students to commerce their studies with the objective of acquiring the needed skills, knowledge and attitude to solve critical societal problems.

“It is my belief that as you pursue this objective, you would one way or the other be working towards the ultimate vision of the ILGS,” he said.

Dr Esther Oduraa Ofei-Aboagye, Director of ILGS said this year the school adopted two admission tracks; the first in September and the second in February, 2013.

She said the February admission would be intended mainly for two programmes to be offered at the Tamale Campus.

The programmes are Local Government Administration and Organisation and the Local Government Financial Management.

She said the move is to offer students on the Northern campus a more conducive learning environment befitting their status as graduate students with refurbished graduate block.

Highlighting on some interventions made by the institute, the Director said the school had started the construction of a Graduate block in Accra comprising offices, lectures halls and faculty lounge.

She said the institute had been able to procure new libraries in Accra and Tamale with the support of German Technical Assistance (GIZ) Organisation Support for Decentralisation Reform Programme (SfDR).

She added that GIZ SfDR is also assisting ILGS to review and re-issue its Programme booklets as well as develop an exciting new curriculum in Poverty Monitoring and Evaluation.

She advised the students to take advantage of the modern technology available in order to gain the competence and confidence that effective change agents and professional require.