THE Ministry of Public Service aims to train some 4,750 workers this year and the 2023 training programme, led by the ministry’s training division, got underway last week, allowing a cohort of public servants to benefit from crucial training.

A release from the Public Service Ministry noted that the three-day course, which started on January 25, delved into the specifics of the ‘Role, Structures and Functions’ of the Public Service; ‘Expectations as a Public Servant, Introduction to Public Service Rules’; and ‘Functions of Central Personnel and Categories of Employment (Pensionable, Contract and Temporary), among others.

The training for the 69 relatively new public servants was facilitated largely by the Personnel Department of the Ministry of Public Service led by Bibi Rameeza Mullah. Also present at the training to give guidance and offer advice was the Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Public Service, James Cole.

Cole encouraged the participants of the programme to use the knowledge and skills gained from the training to better improve their Functions at their respective agencies.

Additionally, Senior Training Officer Valencia Wren emphasised that the participants, having received their certificates on Friday last, have a responsibility to lend to the overall enhancement of the public service.

“You are all now ambassadors of the public service,” Wren posited.

The Development and Operations Training Unit of the Ministry of Public Service is the lead agency charged with improving and maintaining the standards of the public service. And the release noted that in 2022, the department trained a total of 808 persons.

It is expected that some 4,750 workers will be trained in 2023.

Already, the newly-trained public servants attested to the usefulness of the training, assuring facilitators that it will go a long way in improving their individual functions and, by extension, the functions of their respective agencies.

Staff Sergeant Christopher Alleyne, who has been put second in-charge of the general personnel department of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), was keen on noting the benefits of the training.

“From day to day, I have had to answer questions about certain things like public service benefits and so, so now I’m better able to address those concerns and queries,” Sergeant Alleyne said.

Similar sentiments were shared by Soma Pooran from the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) who said that following the sessions, she now has a clearer distinction of the categories of workers, and the benefits afforded to each.

“At one point I used to think that all public servants were on the pensionable establishment,” Ms. Pooran admitted.

She added, “But now I understand the different categories of public servants.”

Prison Officer Roylex Holder was also happy to be part of the training to learn about the public service’s “table of offences” as well as the various salary scales for public servants.

“We learnt that certain offences like being absent for more than three days without sick leave could warrant dismissal, or you can be fined,” Holder shared.

Meanwhile, Maywattie Mandai, the Agriculture Officer attached to the Region Five Democratic Council (RDC), said that she was pleased to know that just as there are sanctions, there are also a myriad of mechanisms that protect the interest of public servants.

“Many times, when you first join the public service, you’re not aware of your rights and sometimes many new public servants are taken advantage of but I’m glad that there are so many regulations that protect public servants and I’m glad that I know of it now,” Mandai noted.

Dalia Araujo, a Clerk II attached to the Hinterland Scholarships Division of the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, found the training to be particularly useful as there were many public service rules that she was not au fait with.

Asma Khan, a Clerk attached to the Human Resources department of the Ministry of Education was particularly happy to benefit from the training, which will now serve her personally and professionally.

“I was most happy to learn about the leave allowances, for example the provision of study leave and study allowances. I am studying, so I was glad to know about that and how I can benefit from it,” Khan noted.

Similarly, Jinella Thomas, a Legal Officer attached to the Ministry of Labour, expressed her pleasure at learning about the public service rules. This knowledge, she said, can improve the overall delivery of government services.

“Once we follow the rules and do things how they’re supposed to be done, the entire public service would be better,” Thomas posited.

Jaidev Mathura, employed as a Clerk II at the Ministry of Legal Affairs, said he too found the training to be an eye-opener.

“I now know about things like the Credit Union and so. I didn’t realise we had one and there were so many benefits,” Mathura pointed.

Collectively, the participants lauded the usefulness of the training and delivery of the facilitators who ensured that the programme was interactive and entertaining.

Meanwhile, at Bush Lot, Region Five, 24 public servants were able to complete a four-day Customer Relations Programme which began on January 24.

In defending Budget 2023 in the National Assembly last week, Minister of Public Service, Sonia Parag, said that her ministry’s training division has been revamped to better address the shortcomings of the public service, which is well on its way to being a modern and efficient apparatus.