NAN-H-67
Secretaries
By Mercy Osajiugo
Minna, Dec. 30, 2016 (NAN) Head of Secretarial Education, Niger State College of Education, Mrs Ann Osuorji, has called on governments to stop hiring quacks
parading themselves as confidential
secretaries.
Osuorji made the call during interview with News Agency
of Nigeria (NAN), in Minna on Friday.
She said shorthand skills had among secretaries declined drastically because those hired for such jobs were
not trained.
“Students in the secretarial studies department have the feeling they can use recording machines to record minutes of meetings, but this is negatively affecting them and their input in the department”,
she said.
The head of department, however, said she did not see the audio, including iphones and Dragon Dictation ousting shorthand in the 21st century office.
Osuorji described shorthand as a confidential writing skill every secretary ought to arm her/himself with.
“A secretary needs shorthand for the documentation of information because there are times you have reports that are confidential to the organisation.
“With such skill, the confidentiality of the organisation is kept and guided”, she said.
Osuorji also debunked the idea that acquiring computer skills was enough to make one a confidential secretary, sayingsuch people were working in the secretarial field as quacks.
“Nowadays, you find persons parading themselves as secretaries, yet having nothing to offer; this is because the rudiments of secretarial training have not been imbibed”, she said.
Osuorji noted that the official
duty of a trained secretary was beyond mere typing of documents.
“A well trained secretary makes sense out of nonsense and ensures that information is communicated appropriately andwith diplomacy”, she said. (NAN)
MNO/ORO/IEA
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Edited by Razak Owolabi/Idahosa Asowata