His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme commander of the BDF and First Deputy Prime Minister, was represented by His Excellency Shaikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al-Khalifa, Deputy Prime Minister and Vice President of the Civil Service Council, attended on the event marking the graduation of the first batch of the public administration master’s degree program which was organized by the Bahrain Institute of Public Administration (BIPA) in partnership with X-Marseille University of France, the French National Management School, TAMKEEN and the University of Bahrain.
His Excellency said: “the message that is constantly reconfirmed and at the top of the paramount concern of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa is to place the Bahraini citizen as the core of the total development process as it is the citizen who directs and channels the plans and programs, associates the development objectives with the education and training programs to support the efforts related to this field”.
His Excellency also confirmed that the launch of the public administration master’s degree program back in 2016 and celebrating the graduation of the first batch incarnates the true beginning of the valuable outputs of this program in a way that reflects the keen interest and desire of the government, under the leadership of His Royal Highness Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al-Khalifa, the Prime Minister and President of the Civil Service Council, and the support extended by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme commander of the BDF and First Deputy Prime Minister. The launch and celebration of the program highlights optimal investment in human capital, development and qualification of the national cadres in line with the best of international practices, particularly in the field of public administration, whose importance is clearly manifested in the development and growth in the volume, nature and role of the government, besides the diversity and multiplicity of the tools and type of the services the sector provides to the public.
On this occasion, His Excellency Shaikh Khalid expressed his thanks and appreciation to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander of the BDF and the First Deputy Prime Minister for sponsoring the graduation ceremony of 22 employees of the private and public sectors, representing the first batch of the master’s degree program offered by the Institute of Public Administration.
His Excellency explained that the promotion of the government functioning system using the various available methods and devices organized in line with clear cut strategic framework, including encouragement of the public sector employees to engage in scientific research through academic and professional program offers, will garner maximum impact on the development of the total public administration system in a way that would qualify the participants to serve as government leaders who are capable of making sound decisions and building up future policies.
His Excellency further added that “all efforts that are supervised and whose standards, performance and execution are monitored by the Civil Service Council, including the public administration master’s degree, are all designed to upgrade the achievement percentage points in the 2015- 2018 government functioning program, which has set aside a complete component concerned with enhancing the efficiency of government performance capabilities, taking advantage of a series of policies and initiatives intended to crank up productivity, strengthening governance of the public sector, simplification of service offering procedures, enhancement of strategic planning, development of government policies and promotion of measurement and performance monitoring mechanisms.”
His Excellency Shaikh Khalid congratulated the graduates of the first batch of the public administration master’s degree program for the effort, assiduity and serious efforts they have demonstrated, while urging them to translate the outcome and findings of their academic studies into development of their work environment and contribute to incorporating the sustainability components in their performance.
His Excellency also highly appreciated the efforts of the Board of Directors and executive management of the Bahrain Institute of Public Administration (BIPA), which is truly regarded as a national house of expertise, thanks to the development and training programs offers as part of its menu as well as the efforts exerted to transform this program into a tangible reality concerned with the graduation of quality products from the employees of the private and public sectors, thanks to the strategic partnerships that the Institute has forged with both the French universities and colleges as well as local institutions, thereby contributing to the construction of this program on academically, administratively and financially solid foundations, coupled with its ability to attract the best ever international expertise in the field of public administration.
He further explained that the public administration master’s degree program is regarded as both an academic and professional program that grants the participants an opportunity to obtain and secure high and professional qualification in tune with the labour regulation and is characterized by its custom made design in accordance with the training requirements of the public sector. Care has also been taken in order to define the required standard of efficiency and skills needed for the development of the government performance.
During the ceremony, His Excellency Dr. Raed Mohammed bin Shams, Director-General of the Bahrain Institute of Public Administration gave a keynote speech where he commended the great support and tireless and consistent follow up that the public administration master’s degree program has received form His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander of the BDF and First Deputy Prime Minister. He reasserted the fact that follow up and tracking by His Royal Highness of the progress of government work progress and his vision related to the promotion of government functioning have been the primary motive for the Bahrain Institute of Public Administration to launch this outstanding academic program.
Dr. Bin Shams attributes initiation of the program to the Institute’s belief in the importance of scientific research in the advancement of the government’s management system in the region to attain the highest standards of quality in rendering government services that are responsive to the development aspirations, considering the program’s high academic and scientific importance that is conducive to realizing the training needs of the public and private sectors as well as meeting the aspirations of citizens to outstanding government performance.
The National School of Management is regarded as one of the French prestigious public sector institutions at the global level and its outstanding scientific teaching model is regarded as an international model for the training of civil service employees all over the world.
On his part, Patrick Gerard, Principal of the National School of Management of France, expressed in his keynote speech in the ceremony his pride that the school grants and bestows on the graduates of the program its professional certification. He reconfirmed his aspiration to consolidate the partnership that unifies the school and the Public Administration in offering many more programs in the near future.
Graduate Ali Bishara, employee of the Civil Service Bureau, was the valedictorian of the graduates. He highlighted in his keynote speech the significance of the program in the development of the capabilities of the participants and the building of their leadership personalities in accordance with international criteria to realize the aspirations of their departments and organizations.
A number of the graduates made brief description of their graduation projects and the ceremony concluded by His Excellency Khalid presenting graduation documents to the participants.