THE principal of the National School of Government launched in October last year believes the school's influence on the entire public service would be seen in the next three to five years.
THE principal of the National School of Government launched in October last year believes the school's influence on the entire public service would be seen in the next three to five years.
Previously known as the Public Administration Leadership and Management Academy (Palama), the NSG was established to professionalise the public service.
Performance of public service has always been a thorny issue for government as taxpayers believe they do not get value for money when visiting public institutions such as police stations, hospitals and schools. But government spends nearly 40% of its expenditure on public servants.
The principal at NSG Professor Lekoa Mollo said changing the attitude of public servants would take a longer time but the school would endeavour to make the impact.
"At the minimal, it is three to five years. It is in that cycle that you can see that you have inculcated the right culture," Mollo said.
With just R200-million, the school trained 33000 people in the financial year ended March 2014. This included training of public servants, unemployed graduates and even members of parliament and provincial legislatures.
NSG targets to take 20000 new recruits through its induction programmes to change the direction of public service. Those who are already in the system will have to undergo "re-orientation" programmes to align them to renewed focus on Batho Pele.
Training at the school is done by former public servants, experts and academics and the courses are driven by demand from the departments.
"You can go to any university in the country, whatever qualification you get does not make you a public servant. What we want to inculcate are the values of ubuntu, teaching every public servant on what attitude should they have when they serve others," Mollo said.
An induction programmed has been developed by the school with five modules for new public servants.
Training include:
l Constitution and public service,
l Separation of powers, governance, accountability and Batho Pele,
l Government strategy, priorities, planning and budget process,
l Linking government, departmental and individual mandates,
l Defining and reporting on performance, and
l Understanding terms and conditions of service.
NSG has forged partnership with the universities of Johannesburg and Witwatersrand, and is looking at a new one with Harvard University.
Mollo believes people should not come to NSG just because they are compelled to do so.
"There is a strong argument that says if you compel me to do everything, there can be malicious compliance and people would be here just for the sake of it. The attitude that this country needs is that of a career progression.
"We have therefore developed a matrix of qualification to say at entry level, for you to progress to another level these are the courses you must have done. We say incentivise people and not just compel them to attend the course."
For more stories like this one, be sure to buy the Sowetan newspaper from Mondays to Fridays
Public servants must have the right attitude
THE principal of the National School of Government launched in October last year believes the school's influence on the entire public service would be seen in the next three to five years.
THE principal of the National School of Government launched in October last year believes the school's influence on the entire public service would be seen in the next three to five years.
Previously known as the Public Administration Leadership and Management Academy (Palama), the NSG was established to professionalise the public service.
Performance of public service has always been a thorny issue for government as taxpayers believe they do not get value for money when visiting public institutions such as police stations, hospitals and schools. But government spends nearly 40% of its expenditure on public servants.
The principal at NSG Professor Lekoa Mollo said changing the attitude of public servants would take a longer time but the school would endeavour to make the impact.
"At the minimal, it is three to five years. It is in that cycle that you can see that you have inculcated the right culture," Mollo said.
With just R200-million, the school trained 33000 people in the financial year ended March 2014. This included training of public servants, unemployed graduates and even members of parliament and provincial legislatures.
NSG targets to take 20000 new recruits through its induction programmes to change the direction of public service. Those who are already in the system will have to undergo "re-orientation" programmes to align them to renewed focus on Batho Pele.
Training at the school is done by former public servants, experts and academics and the courses are driven by demand from the departments.
"You can go to any university in the country, whatever qualification you get does not make you a public servant. What we want to inculcate are the values of ubuntu, teaching every public servant on what attitude should they have when they serve others," Mollo said.
An induction programmed has been developed by the school with five modules for new public servants.
Training include:
l Constitution and public service,
l Separation of powers, governance, accountability and Batho Pele,
l Government strategy, priorities, planning and budget process,
l Linking government, departmental and individual mandates,
l Defining and reporting on performance, and
l Understanding terms and conditions of service.
NSG has forged partnership with the universities of Johannesburg and Witwatersrand, and is looking at a new one with Harvard University.
Mollo believes people should not come to NSG just because they are compelled to do so.
"There is a strong argument that says if you compel me to do everything, there can be malicious compliance and people would be here just for the sake of it. The attitude that this country needs is that of a career progression.
"We have therefore developed a matrix of qualification to say at entry level, for you to progress to another level these are the courses you must have done. We say incentivise people and not just compel them to attend the course."
For more stories like this one, be sure to buy the Sowetan newspaper from Mondays to Fridays
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