-2,359 govt officials received training from 2009 to 2024
- Tk 475 Cr 13 lakh 60K spend in last 15 yrs
- Public Admin Secretary agreed to extend duration
-Hundreds more officers have degrees in climate change, disaster management, environment, information technology and sustainable development. But they have been posted in the Ministry of Culture, Labor, Religion and Health.
It was not useful for the country to train government officials abroad at the cost of huge money. Basically most of the officers are not posted as per the training. Moreover, there is no action plan and integrated information system for the trainees. The previous government has spent Tk 475 crore 13 lakh 60 thousand in the last 15 years in the name of training BCS cadre officers abroad. But the training experience did not help the country. Still, the Ministry of Public Administration has taken the initiative to extend the government strengthening project by increasing the capacity of BCS cadre officers.
In a recent project steering committee meeting, a proposal was made to extend the duration of the project. The project officials said that it is necessary to continue the activities of the project to build a better Bangladesh in the future. And the Public Administration Secretary has agreed to extend the duration of the project. After that it was decided to extend the duration of the project. This information is known from sources related to the Ministry of Public Administration.
According to related sources, 2,359 government officials have received training abroad from 2009 to 2024. Among the BCS officers, 13 have done PhD abroad, 874 have taken master's degree, 176 have done diploma, 44 secretaries have taken refresher courses and 1,252 additional secretaries, joint secretaries and deputy secretaries have taken short courses. Most of these officers have completed degrees from the universities named Harvard, Duke, ITC-ILO, McCarry, Curtin, Sussex, Oxford and Birmingham in UK and America, Italy, Australia. The government has spent Tk 475 crore 13 lakh 60 thousand in this sector in 15 fiscal years.
Sources said there is no action plan and integrated information system for government officials trained abroad. In many cases, those who participate in the training do not have a job scope that is compatible with the training. There are also no guidelines for the proper application of the knowledge acquired. As a result, specialist officers are not being prepared in any sector. In such a situation, if the duration of the project is extended without using the two thousand and 359 officers trained in the last 15 years in a planned manner, there is a risk that the result will be practically zero.
Projects that strengthen government necessarily require master planning, surveying and monitoring. Apart from this, it is necessary to introduce a cluster system with some related ministries to create sector-wise experts. That is why the Career Planning and Training (CPT) Division of the Ministry of Public Administration has been created.
Sources also said that Public Security Department Joint Secretary (Administration Division) Shaheed Mohammad Saidul Haque, Director (Assessment) of National Skill Development Authority and Deputy Secretary Humayun Kabir, Director of Rajdhani Unnayan Katripakkho (Rajuk). Momin Uddin holds a Master's degree in Project Management from Bournemouth University, UK. Deputy Secretary (Repatriation Wing) of the Office of the Commissioner for Refugee Relief and Repatriation, Md Talut, has done Masters and Ph.D in Sustainable Water Policy. But the engineer officer has been kept in the Rohingya camp for a long time.
Moreover, Director (Social Security) and Deputy Secretary of Department of Social Services, Tanzillur Rahman, Director and Deputy Secretary of National Development Administration Academy, Dewan Mohammad Tajul Islam have done Master’s Degree in Environmental Impact Assessment Management. But none of them were posted in project management and environmental posts. But environmental impact assessment management is very important in the project. The environmental complexity of large constructions can be determined through project planning. Environmental disaster could have been avoided if it had been properly assessed in large projects.
However, there are no experienced officials in the country. Despite this, the officers who have obtained Master's degree in this subject are posted in Directorate of Social Services and Administration Academy. Hundreds more officers have degrees in climate change, disaster management, environment, information technology and sustainable development. But they have been posted in the Ministry of Culture, Labor, Religion and Health. Other similarly trained officers are working in different departments without any plan.
In this context, the senior secretary of the Ministry of Public Administration Mokhles Ur Rahman said that the government is positive about extending the duration of the training project. These are routine tasks. Training must be done to increase capacity.
ZH
