Acquiring the right mindset
Post Graduate Institute of Management (PIM)
assists...:
by Sajitha Prematunge
[email protected]
When the construction of Taj Mahal was under way, a contractor asked
one of the stone cutters what he was doing. The stone cutter replied 'I
am a stone cutter, I cut stones.' The contractor asked another stone
cutter the same question.
 He replied 'I am involved in the construction of the Taj Mahal.' Dr.
Uditha Liyanage related this story at the inauguration ceremony of the
first Post Graduate Diploma in Public Administration, held recently at
the Post Graduate Institute of Management (PIM). This course can be
termed as an attempt to teach graduates to think as if they are a part
of a greater coalition.
This pilot project, funded by the UNDP, will be conducted for 18
months to provide job training, to graduate scheme entries into the
Ministry of Finance and Planning. Prepared to cater to both private and
public sector, this course is believed to help the officers of the
public sector acquire the right mindset.
Douglas Keh, Country Director UNDP, said that the main focus of this
pilot course is capacity building, that can be sustained over a long
period of time, where similar experiences gained, from other parts of
the world will be applied to Sri Lanka. The idea is to build capacity
without seeking international support, guided by the country itself.
He further explained that the UNDP will not be responsible for
monitoring matters, which will be handled by a task force assigned from
different ministries as the course spreads to other segments of
government service. Little over US $ 170,000 have been spent on over 150
students. "We at UNDP do not want to intervene unnecessarily in the
facilitation of the course.
This is a collaboration with the government and 'Mahinda Chinthana'.
This course is only a minute part of a whole gamut of things."
Dr. Lloyd Fernando, Director Distance Learning, PIM said that the
course is unique for two reasons, its content and mode of delivery. The
content of the course is based on the role of public service, focusing
not only on economic growth but also as a facilitator of development.
The course is delivered via a form of distance learning, a blend of
conventional and state of the art teaching methods.
Explaining the structure of the course Dr. Lloyd Fernando told the
Sunday Observer "We'll take the candidates through the grill.
The textual material are directly uploaded to the web, where students
can down load them, to avoid 'parroting'." This provides capsulated
knowledge for the students. General lectures are replaced by a CD, where
by the need for a lecturer is literarily eliminated.
The CD has to be studied in conjunction with provided textual
material. Two Group Learning sessions a month, facilitated by Prof.
Sudatta Ranasinghe, Prof. Tilak Fonseka, Prof. S.S. Colombage, Dr.
Travis Perera, Dr. Anila Bandaranayake, Dr. Sukanya Devarajan, Ajantha
Dharmasiri, Indrajith Aponsu, Shashithanganee Weerawansa and Dr. Udan
Fernando, will take an interactive outlook, where the candidates will
get a chance to debate and discuss with the facilitators as well as each
other.
Deputy Director, Ministry of Finance, Sumith Abesinghe, identified
the need for a 'tailor made training using ultra modern techniques'.
"Our graduates have a lot of potential, but they need non-conventional
training, which the current public service lacks." He also stressed the
importance of transformation of attitudes, through training.
He added that education should be a continuous process and that the
experiences one gains should be focused on thinking 'out of the box'. |
