More than 800 government administrators in Bahrain are expected to take part in various training courses this year.
Public Media | August 2003
Last year 700 people took part in courses, according to Civil Service Bureau (CSB) figures, the BBC reported. The bureau is planning to use its resources more efficiently to train more people this year, said training and development director Dr Hashim Al Bash. "The government allocates BD2.5 million ($6.6 million) for all training programs every year," he added.
"This budget is for all training programs for civilian government staff, whether they are courses in Bahrain or abroad. "It is also for CSB-organized training programs and for those organized by the various ministries. "In addition to the more than 800 administrators who are being trained by us, the ministries themselves have their own training programs.
"The budget hasn't changed, but we are able to get a lot more out of it this year than last year." He was speaking at a Press conference at the CSB offices in the Diplomatic Area. Dr Al Bash said that the increased efficiency was partly due to a more organized approach to training. "We divide training into two categories, training to suit our urgent requirements, and training for career development," he continued.
"We give priority to the urgent training and have issued a booklet with guidelines about the issue which has been distributed among trainers and trainees. "Of course, we have always differentiated between the two, but now we are stressing it even more," Dr Al Bash said.
Urgent training requirements include computer and secretarial skills. Ministries have also been asked to present the CSB with reports outlining their training requirements for the coming two years by September.
"They will tell us of their requirements and their estimated budgets. We will look at the reports and will suggest ways of improving the training and reducing the budget," he added. "Sometimes we can offer cheaper and better alternatives that can save the government a lot of money."
