GTZ training will benefit 400 NE Administrators

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 May 2006, 10:56 GMT]
German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) has initiated a modern training program for developing English Language and professional skills in governance and development for public servants attached to the NorthEast Provinicial council, a press release issued by the GTZ Thursday said.

Full text of the press release follows:

The German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) launched the Skills Through English for Public Servants (STEPS) training programme at the Management Development and Training Department (MDTD) of the North East Provincial Council (NEPC) on 8 May in Trincomalee. This training programme is supported by new training facilities which consist in smaller, more flexible training rooms that allow participatory training sessions. The programme is aiming to pave the way for a modern approach to training, away from lecture halls and more traditional training methods.

The STEPS course - conducted with inputs from the British Council Colombo under a special agreement with GTZ - is a content and skills-integrated course. It combines the development of English language and professional skills with contents based on governance and development issues. “Both skill and content areas were identified as highly relevant and necessary for public servants in the NEPC. By the end of the fourteen-month programme some 400 Government officers will have benefited from the course”, explains Walter Keller, GTZ Senior Advisor. 31 selected graduates will be the first to undergo the training and will subsequently develop their own skills as trainers, ensuring to the sustainability of the programme.

STEPS and the new training facility are two components of the Performance Improvement Project (PIP) for development actors in the North and East. The main objective of the project is to increase efficiency in the planning, implementation and monitoring of the rehabilitation and development measures in the North-Eastern Province. Technical assistance is provided to the Provincial Chief Secretary, the Provincial Planning Secretariat, the Management Development and Training Department and the Centre for Information Resources Management. These are the key government intermediaries responsible for coordinating the rehabilitation and development measures. Project activities consist in advisory inputs, training, and coaching for human resource development, organizational development, planning, information management, and governance.

Since the end of 2005, the British Government’s Department for International Development (DFID) has also been participating in the PIP activities through the provision of financial and advisory inputs.

GTZ is an international cooperation enterprise for sustainable development with worldwide operations. For 30 years it has been providing viable, forward looking solutions for political, economic, ecological and social development in a globalized world. GTZ supports complex reform and change processes, often working under difficult conditions. Its corporate objective is to improve people’s living conditions on sustainable basis. GTZ’s main client is the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.

For further information, please contact:
Walter Keller, PIP Senior advisor, GTZ Sri Lanka -
[email protected]
PIP project web page:
http://www.gtz.de/en/weltweit/asien-pazifik/sri-lanka/12344.htm