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Observer Thursday, February 25, 1988
By Chris Stephen
"JOE OKOLI is a man with a mission: The newly
installed manager of Brent Information Technology Centre in
Stonebridge has already made his presence felt with a blizzard of
notices reminding people why they are there. One notice, posted at
the Centre and sent to youngsters in the borough’s schools, lists
four qualifications needed to succeed at ITEC: "Ambition,
determination, personal discipline and the desire to learn."
The message Mr Okoli and others are trying to get
across is that the spirit is as important as the intellect and they
want to train attitude as much as technical skills. "People don’t
fully understand that the main object is to prepare young people for
work in industry. It’s easy to lose sight of that," he says. Brent
ITEC forms part of the Stonebridge Bus Garage Project, an expensive
but ambitious £6 million scheme designed to bring training and jobs
into deprived areas. ITEC operates government funded youth training
scheme courses for 16 and 17 year old, who are paid £42.99 a week to
attend. So far more than 200 youngsters have passed through the
centre since it opened in 1983. They come from local schools and off
the dole and 60 per cent get jobs straight after finishing training.
Chairman of the centre, Errol Williams, was
involved in first setting up ITEC and said the idea is to give the
youngsters the right start in life: "One of the greatest things is
that it keeps them off the street and gets them occupied with
something that would not otherwise be available to them," he said.
"I never had that opportunity when I was that age." Home Office
Minister John Patten praised ITEC on a recent visit, saying it would
reduce crime by starting young people off on the right foot. But
Williams says it does far more than this. The Centre aims to show
the young people a more positive way of life, increasing their self
confidence and their ability to make the jump between school and
work. "You can’t just give them the skills," he said, "you have to
give them the attitude that goes with those skills." So far results
have been impressive. Tutor Anil Pandya cites two examples of pupils
who completed training and were snapped up by computer firms.
Teenager Gary Ford went from the course to Telecom less than a year
ago and is now earning £7,500.
Another, Richard Grant, so impressed his employers that within
weeks of joining them he was put in charge of their computer
department. Keeping the centre up to date with all that is happening
in the information technology industry is also important. Two of
ITEC’s directors are from computer giants UNISYS, a stone’s throw
from the centre. Trainees give the centre the thumbs up too. Trisha
Colquhoun, 17, from Harlesden, said she found the work more
absorbing than school. Another 17-year-old, Eugene Shakespeare, is
already at work with a computer company while studying at ITEC.
Brimming with the confidence he said ITEC has given him, he said the
use of work experience was a good way of giving trainees some idea
of what they would find once they enter the world of business. The
spirit at ITEC seems to be infectious. Even the football team is
doing well. In the two years of competing with 15 other teams from
around London in the ITEC cup, it has won the trophy on both
occasions." |
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 Home
Office Minister John Patten praised ITEC on a recent visit, saying
it would reduce crime by starting young people off on the right
foot. But Williams says it does far more than this. The Centre aims
to show the young people a more positive way of life, increasing
their self confidence and their ability to make the jump between
school and work. "You can’t just give them the skills," he said,
"you have to give them the attitude that goes with those skills." |
