Under the patronage of Deputy Prime Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, the Institute of Public Administration held yesterday morning the third graduation ceremony of the training programs in Al-Ghazal hall at Ritz Carlton Hotel. The ceremony was attended by a number of ministers and senior officials in the Kingdom, in addition to the board members of the Institute and training managers at ministries and government bodies. The Director General of the Institute of Public Administration, in a speech, announced that the Institute has finished training 10,800 government employees which is equivalent to 24% of public sector employees, considering it as an accomplishment that matches the size of the huge responsibilities of the Institute.
The ceremony began with a speech, delivered by the Director General of the Institute of Public Administration Dr. Raed Bin Shams, in which Dr. Shams indicated the significant role embodied in the graduates, and their ability to create and make real development in the government work, to serve citizens and residents in the Kingdom of Bahrain, through the application of appropriate management practices and skills that they have trained on.
In his speech, bin Shams announced establishing a center to assess public sector employees, stressing that this assessment contributes to laying down a special development plan for every government employee and supporting the process of selecting appointments and promotions, as well as helping to reduce competencies gap in the public sector, this center will also work on developing work environment in the public sector establishments to achieve optimum utilization of the existing cadres.
Bin Shams also noted that the Institute of Public Administration is working to design a new package of training programs covering other aspects of development in the government work, including “Takween” program targeting supervisors and specialists, and the like in order to qualify them to take over as section heads or equivalent in the government work, In addition to the customer service program, which will contribute to improving the performance of government service institutions, through the development of the performance of employees in all job levels in this area, and enable them to perform their duties to the fullest.
At the end of his speech, bin Shams stressed that the Institute of Public Administration is always trying to find out best management practices for preparing distinctive, competent and skilled cadres to provide government services in the best efficient and performed way under the guidance of the wise leadership.
Bin Shams added: “we share great responsibility with other ministries and government bodies, their continued cooperation with us in participation in such programs, and their commitment to the development of Bahraini cadres, is actually pushing us for more work to bear the responsibility, to meet all those necessary needs, and get over the immense challenges in light of lacking available resources to reach our aspirations”.
Tawfeeq Mansour, a graduate from government leaderships preparation diploma program, delivered graduates' speech in which he thanked officials of the Institute of Public Administration, referring to the good organization and preparation and the efficiency of instructors in the same program, where he said: “The high efficient and proficient level of lecturers and instructors who were chosen by the Institute, has had a significant impact in delivering the information smoothly, and contributed in an interactive dialogue with the participants and we hope the Institute will continue to maintain this fine elite of qualified lecturers and instructors”.
He added: “We hope the Institute of Public Administration will maintain such a high level of organization of various and specialized programs for all officials in the government sector, which undoubtedly will lead to the creation of successful management of high efficiency to achieve the vision and support the process of change in government performance, in order to serve our dear country which we all proud of and raise Bahrain's name high to achieve the vision of our wise leadership, under the auspices of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa”.
Shaikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa honored 14 establishments cooperating with the Institute of Public Administration in the field of training and information, in recognition and gratitude for the continued support of the training activities and programs of the Institute, among honorees Minister of Culture Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al-Khalifa, Minister of State for Follow-up Affairs Mohammed Al-Mutawa, Undersecretary of the National Audit Court Dr. Ahmed Al-Balushi, in addition to the following government agencies; e-Government Authority, Council of Representatives, Economic Development Board, Ministry of Finance, and finally Information Affairs Authority. From private sector; Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company, Zain Telecom Company, Al-Watan and Al-Bilad Newspapers, followed by honoring 38 directors who have completed government leaderships preparation diploma program.
Bin Shams also honored the rest of the graduates from other training programs such “cadres” program dedicated to department heads who were 29, and the professional certificate program in the foundations of human resources (47 employees), in addition to the management of government projects (22 employees), and finally government leaderships preparation diploma program (132 newly appointed employees).
At the end of the ceremony, bin Shams thanked Shaikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa for kindly patronizing the event, which is considered a great support to the outputs of the Institute of Public Administration, pointing out the graduates will enrich government work with precise management skills and practices they trained on during the training period, thus contributing to lifting the level of productivity and services in the public sector which contributes to advancing the wheel of progress and development in the ministries and government bodies.