Within the objectives of developing government work to serve citizens, and within the framework of Bahrain Economic Vision 2030 and the government action program, as well as putting into practice the recent resolution issued by His Royal Highness The Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al-Khalifa, No.29 for 2014 on the organization of the mechanism of appointment to senior positions in government institutions, the Institute of public Administration “BIPA” announced the graduation of 49 trainees within the new government leaders preparation program (Kawader) and the acceptance of 20 trainees in the 3rd batch, out of 65 candidates, who will begin training on the 1st of next September, where this program comes within the national programs designed to prepare government leaders and to bring about capacities in various administrative positions, which is one of the initiatives set forth in the national economic strategy, for developing the government work.
BIPA’s Director Dr. Raed bin Shams said that this program was designed primarily to suit the needs of department heads and the like category, pointing out to the significant role associated with the work of this group and their ability to develop and progress the work of the government, also indicated that the process of participants' selection by an arbitration panel from various government agencies came to ensure the selection of the elite individuals and groups who are capable of bearing responsibility and do the required change in the government work, emphasizing on the importance of the practical application because of what participants will learn in the program concerning proper principles and rules that develop and create a new generation able of making ideal environment serving the homeland and the citizens.
The Director of Education and Development at the Institute Mr. Ishaq Ameen revealed that, until now about 49 trainees have been graduated from the new government leaders preparation program (Kawader) in two batches (20 of them in 2013 and 29 in 2014), and said that 6 of the graduates of 2013 have been promoted to the position of Director, in addition to the 10 participants in the program from 2014 batch have been promoted also to the position of Director, where this achievement is considered an accomplishment which BIPA boasts about, that indicates the success of the program in achieving its objectives, especially those related to the development of managerial and leadership capacity of participants and preparing them to move forward in career progression within their organization, Mr. Ameen said that the opening of the 3rd batch of the program will commence on the 1st of next September, including 20 employees who were selected from among 65 candidates.
Mr. Ameen noted the mechanism for the program nominations in collaboration with the Civil Service Bureau (CSB) where the nominations are carried out through the senior leaders in the government institutions, and then candidates are selected based on the assessment of an ad-Hoc specialized committee, indicating that the most important criteria to be a candidate is to be from the category of department heads and the like in the government sector and to pass a personal interview, adding that an invitation is sent to the accepted nominees and their immediate supervisors in order to familiarize the participants and their immediate officials with the objectives and content of the program, in addition to building a relationship with immediate officials responsible for providing the necessary support to the participants for the duration of the program, as well as providing the support required to implement the program’s learning in the work environment.
It is worth mentioning that this program was launched in 2010 as a joint initiative between BIPA and Oxford University – Saeed Business College in the United Kingdom. It is an innovative and intensive program implemented over a period extending to 4 months, aiming to develop the leadership skills of the participants and those who will be in the category of heads of departments with high capacity that capable of development and upgrading to a higher administrative levels, therefore the output of the program is to graduate future leaders who are working to raise the competitiveness of the Kingdom of Bahrain in order to serve the citizens.