Dr. Raed Mohammed Bin Shams, Director-General of the Bahrain Institute of Public Administration (BIPA) has stated that the master of public administration program is considered one of the most significant supporting tools for decision making and building of government policies in the region. The program is based on effective mechanisms, supporting qualification of government leaders according to scientific approaches to reach the highest levels in delivering government services, which comes in line with the vision of the Institute of Public Administration (advanced government performance for sustainable development). The program is, therefore, considered the first of its kind in the Arab region that supports the training needs of civil servants in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
During the opening ceremony for the second batch of students in the program, Dr. Bin Shams announced that 22 employees from various government agencies have joined the program for the two academic years 2017 and 2018. He also explained that the program is characterized by its special design and approach in merging between the academic and professional content to be the first program that contributes to the qualification and preparation of government leaders in this way. The program boosts the skills and competences that enable participants to acquire the necessary expertise, experiences and knowledge, which help develop the government performance in line with government needs. It also paves the way for an advanced stage of the required administrative change and development to enhance the performance quality and results.
The President of the University of Bahrain, Dr. Riyadh Yousuf Hamza, has stressed that participants in the master of public administration program will acquire a significant amount of professional expertise and academic knowledge from a group of the best experts and academic lecturers in the field of public administration from all over the world. Thus, the program will provide opportunities for learning and communication within a distinguished knowledge environment. He also commended the program’s approach, which is based on strategic international and local partnerships. These include a distinguished partnership with Aix-Marseille University, France, which is considered one of the top 150 universities in the world and the National School of Administration, France, which graduated a big number of leaders and presidents in public administration all over the world.
Students of the first batch showcased some of the administrative practices, which they managed to master based on the benefits they gained from the scientific topics addressed in the program such as human resource management, governance mechanisms, political institutions in the GCC states, general finance, budgeting and accounting rules, projects management, public departments management and structure, general governance, control systems and information management, and the e-government. The participants also explained some of the various aspects of their qualification, and how they managed to improve their skills and abilities in various fields of knowledge, including methods and tools of public administration, creativity in the public sector, institutional negotiation, organizational behaviour, problem solving, leadership and strategy in public administration, and the collaborative modes of government work.