This was stated by Dato Seri Paduka Awg Hj Eussoff Agaki bin Hj Ismail, Deputy Minister at the Prime Minister's Office, during his speech as the guest of honour at the closing and certificate presentation ceremony for the 11 " Executive Development Programme for Senior Government Officers 2007, which was held last night at the VIP Assembly Hall of The Rizqun International Hotel, Gadong. "In facing any challenges, we must have an open standpoint, be prepared to change our approach, fine-tune our strategy, and be prepared to make room for innovative thinking that may be more effective and positive for each of our organisations," he said.
"The learning process can be considered a skill that requires the practise of the `art of knowing' in order to absorb and understand knowledge that is delivered in theory. The real challenge lies in the application of this knowledge. Here is where the `art of doing' benefits both the individual and the organisation," he added.
On the whole, public servants need to improve the practise of good governance by increasing their efforts, quality and effectiveness towards good governance practices that includes strategic thinking, accountability, professionalism, and best practices. These efforts will direct the mechanism of government a step forward in the right direction.
Also present in his capacity as the chairman was Dato Paduka Awg Hj Saifon bin Hj Awg Besar, Head Director of Public Services. Other VIPs included permanent secretaries, deputy permanent secretaries, the commissioner of police, deputy chancellor at Universiti Brunei Darussalam, heads of departments, deputy heads of departments and other senior government officers.
The number of senior government officers who participated in the programme was 163, of which 19 were local senior government officers, including officers from the Royal Brunei Police Force.
This annual programme was fully sponsored by the Public Service Department, Prime Minister's Office, while Universiti Brunei Darussalam was commissioned to run the programme with the help of other government agencies.
Four senior government officers from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV countries) were also involved in this year's programme, and they have been doing so for the past three years. Their last batch was involved in the programme for only I1 weeks, and completed their course on April 21, 2007.
The participation of the CLMV countries is one of Brunei Darussalam's efforts, especially in termsof capacity building of the aforementioned countries. Furthermore, these countries have also been invited to participate in the development programme entitled "Development Programme for Government Middle Management Officers, which is scheduled to start on July 23. This programme is intended to prepare participants for deputy head of department positions; especially those who are currently holding or about to hold deputy or assistant head of department positions.
An appreciation award was also presented to the group, which achieved the highest mark of 83 per cent for the project entitled, "The Delay of E-Government Project Implementation in the Selected Agencies is due to the lack of IT Human Resources. Is it Real or a Perception?" The Executive Development Programme is aimed at enhancing senior government officers towards excellence in public service. It exposes participants to various management perspectives, which involve Public Policy, Administration and Public Management in Brunei Darussalam.
This programme ran for 14 weeks from January 22 to April 28, and included a one-'week orientation, lectures and intensive seminars for 10 weeks, a one-week study visit to the United Arab Emirates and a two-week preparation for discussion and presentation of group projects.
Autor(en)/Author(s): Zasika Musdi & Kartika Rahman
Quelle/Source: Brunei Direct, 07.06.2007
