Staff Correspondent

The Public Administration Reform Commission in its report recommended the formation of an independent training commission to develop skills and capacity in public administration.

Public Administration Reform Commission head Abdul Muyeed Chowdhury handed over the commission’s report to Chief Advisor Prof Dr. Muhammad Yunus on February 5.

Later, a summary of the reform proposal was sent to the media from the Chief Adviser’s Press Wing.

According to summary of the report, an independent training commission should be formed with experts to coordinate and bring excellence in training among all the government’s training institutions.

The commission will ensure the governance of various institutions, provide guidance on structural reforms, curriculum formulation and training methods.

It suggested developing Bangladesh Public Administration Training Center (BPATC) as a center of excellence for basic training of all civil servants so that uniform and appropriate training can be ensured for newly appointed officers of all services and disparities can be reduced.

It is recommended that the three institutions-Bangladesh Rural Development Academy in Gopalganj, Jamalpur and Rangpur- be declared as regional BPATCs with the same facilities and provide basic training in the same module.

A strong cooperation framework should be developed with various training academies. For this, each ministry should establish direct links with the concerned universities and conduct research and other activities.

The report put emphasis on the importance of rationalizing higher education opportunities abroad to ensure the most effective use of resources.

The recommendation included pursuing higher education abroad in world-renowned universities, a strategic arrangement can be made to undertake higher degree programmes like Master's programs by entering into agreements with local universities whose faculty members hold foreign degrees.

At present, training success is not taken into account in transfers, promotions and career planning. As a result, officials are not interested in training and do not take it seriously even when they join.

“If training is linked to career, such attitudes will change. Thus, information on the success achieved in training should be preserved in the personal files of government employees and these should be taken into consideration to bring professionalism in government service,” the commission suggested.

It recommended providing training on a priority basis to district and upazila officials in addition to training for government employees and officials engaged in various general and technical services.