Training public service officials

Educating civil servants
Improving skills base in public sector
Improving relevance of public service training

Description

Training public service officials involves systematically developing the skills, knowledge, and ethical standards necessary for effective governance and service delivery. This strategy addresses issues such as inefficiency, corruption, and inadequate public response by equipping officials with practical tools and updated information. Through targeted workshops, continuous education, and performance assessments, it ensures that officials can implement policies transparently, respond to citizens’ needs, and uphold public trust, thereby improving institutional effectiveness and accountability.

Context

In many developing countries the public sector is short of qualified staff at all levels. Skills may exist, but may be attracted by higher salaries in the private sector. Environmental agencies may be both outstaffed and need to rely on the private sector, incurring expensive consultancy time. Another problem which can occur is an imbalance of professional skills. Public sectors may need to rectify this particularly in order to balance out environmental and economic goals.

Implementation

Training is widely advocated but often poorly executed. Before 1950 most developing countries had only limited training facilities. Over the next thirty years, aid donors directed large quantities of aid to training public officials in developing countries and to building training institutions inside and outside governments: regional and intergovernmental training institutions have been established in Africa, Asia, and Latin America-three under UN auspices-to support public service training; the United Nations, the United States government, and the Ford Foundation are estimated to have spent roughly US$250 million in support of institutions for training in public administration alone during 1951-62; the industrial market economies grant substantial amounts each a year for training of developing country nationals, including the award of overseas fellowships; training schemes are financed by UNDP.

According to a survey by the International Association of Schools and Institutes of Administration, there were 276 government institutions, university departments, and independent institutes providing public administration and management training in 91 developing countries in 1980. This is four times the number listed in a United Nations report for 1960.