BCS Cadre Officers to Complete Foundation Training in Just 4 Months
The National Training Council (NTC) today reduced the duration of the foundation training course for BCS cadre officers from six months to four months, with three months at training institutions and one month for field level orientation and village attachment. The decision was taken at the 9th meeting of the NTC with Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus in the chair, said a press release of the Chief Adviser's Press Wing here.
Finance Adviser Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed, Law Adviser Professor Dr Asif Nazrul, Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain, Health and Family Welfare Adviser Nurjahan Begum, Public Administration Ministry Secretary Dr Md Mokhles Ur Rahman and Dhaka University (DU) Vice-Chancellor Professor Niaz Ahmed Khan joined the meeting. The meeting increased the maximum age limit for enrollment in Master's and PhD courses from 45 to 47 years. For PhD studies, officials must submit annual progress reports certified by their supervisors to the respective ministry, otherwise their salaries will be withheld.
Addressing the meeting, the Chief Adviser stressed on evaluating all the government training centers. Setting the standards and methods for training, Professor Yunus said, each training center must be ranked categorically and monitored regularly. Putting emphasis on forming an independent unit to systematically and independently evaluate all research institutions, he said, "We have to know the overall philosophy of the research institutions and assess whether these are being run properly. Information about government officials who receive training from abroad should be preserved there."
The meeting also decided to rename the 'Sanjiboni Training programme' as 'Skill Renewal Training'. Under the updated curriculum, this training will be conducted at field level in any government or non-government institution. The meeting also decided that if officials receive partial scholarships for higher studies, deputation will still be granted. To promote integrity, ethical values, and anti-corruption attitudes among officials, the meeting, decided to include topics such as Virtue, Morality, Behavioral Science, and Code of Ethics in the training modules. The council also decided to operate research, monitoring, and evaluation activities to assess officials' training programmes, training institutions, and overall decision-making related to training. Besides, the meeting today formed the Executive Committee of the National Training Council (ECNTC) with Finance Adviser Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed as its chairman.
