Capacity building
rvice College of Oromia

A. Problem Analysis

 1. What was the problem before the implementation of the initiative?
Though national and regional constitution empowers regional government to improve citizens’ wellbeing, attitudinal problem, poor public service delivery system, lack of public sector capacity, change resistance, rent-seeking were critical problem when the current government has come to power. The need assessment made by the former Oromia Management Institute , currently Public Service College of Oromia, reveals that about 83% of civil servants in the Oromia Region had less than diploma in terms of education and hence unable to implement public policy. Thus the college designed special need based civil service capacity building program (through education and short term training) to mitigate the problem particularly at local government level.

B. Strategic Approach

 2. What was the solution?
Oromia Regional state has established Public Service College of to provide short term training, conduct applied research, renders professional consultancy service and gives reform-led education to build implementation capacity of public institution and other development actors, developing regions, women, NGOs, Civil society organizations etc. The college offers education offers education programs basically through distance learning programs taking into account local context. It has 32 distance education centers at least one each Zonal administration. Pillar of excellence (thematic areas) of the college are institutional transformation, human resource development and community-college partnership. Main objectives of the college are: 1. To enable civil servants Implement government policies and strategies efficiently and effectively 2.To cultivate civil servants’ attitude with professional and organizational ethics 3.To create civil servants having organizational citizenship 4. To create civil servants who care for public resources, utilize properly and feel ownership for the same. 5. To build civil service system that is, transparent ; motivated to serve and accountable to citizens

 3. How did the initiative solve the problem and improve people’s lives?
Public service college of Oromia focuses on sustaining public sector reform through tailor-made capacity building strategy, promote access to public service, and promote citizens' participation identifying problem, planning, implementation and evaluation of results through established development army. The college has implemented Civil service reform programs, BPR, BSC, civil service army, citizen charter, ICT reform (e-governance), and good governance packages. The college intensively works to inculcate reform spirit in public sectors and beyond.

C. Execution and Implementation

 4. In which ways is the initiative creative and innovative?
Public service college of Oromia has launched regular, extension, weekend, and distance program. 32 centers are opened to reach all civil servants in the region. Training Need assessment, Research Need, Education Need and consultancy needs are identified, planned, implemented the strategy through stakeholders’ mobilization and evaluated with balanced scorecard framework. Strategy is cascaded to every employees and each employee has personal development plan aligned with organizational and process's strategy. Leadership communicates mission, leadership works to minimize resistance, reform is key leadership agenda and resources are aligned with big picture of the country, region and organization. Therefore, the college implements its strategy by creating strategy focused organization.

 5. Who implemented the initiative and what is the size of the population affected by this initiative?
Public institutions, regional government, standing committee of regional council, Federal higher Quality and Relevance agency, Ministry of Education, Civil service and Good Governance Bureau, civil servants in Oromia region, public enterprises, private sectors, federal and regional management institutes, city administrations, developing regions etc are key stakeholders of the college
 6. How was the strategy implemented and what resources were mobilized?
The college has deployed ICT facilities with 1.5 million Eth birr, green or attractive and conducive working environment, SMAT class room furnished with ICT, ICT supported library with cost of 50,000 Eth birr etc. Furthermore, the college invests in its human resources (both administrative and academic staffs) development intensively with short term, medium and long term training. New construction of standardized training facility is underway with 200 million Eth birr. The college's operations are financed by internal revenue, government treasury, and development partners such as UNDP etc source of financing.

 7. Who were the stakeholders involved in the design of the initiative and in its implementation?
1. 123,154 civil servants were graduated in diploma 2. 2,533 civil servants were graduated in B.A 3. 190,000 civil servants received short-term training 4. 45 researches were communicated to beneficiaries 5. 10 demand driven consultancy and 41 supply driven consultancy service were conducted

 8. What were the most successful outputs and why was the initiative effective?
The college conducts training impact assessment 1. the college conducts education impact assessment 2. the college conducts research and consultancy service impact assessment 3. standing committee of regional council oversee the college's plan and performance report 4. Supervisory board of the college oversees plan and performance of the college. 5. The college involves internal and external stakeholders in monitoring and evaluation. the college conducts supervision, receive report and conduct performance evaluation forum based on its plan 6. Result-based evaluation is conducted at individual, team level, process level, organizational or corporate level to measure the progress. Individuals evaluate their own contribution based on their personal plan.

 9. What were the main obstacles encountered and how were they overcome?
The major challenges facing the college include 1. overt and covert resistances by public sectors leaders and employees to embrace reform initiatives 2. covert resistance by some staff members to comply with desired change 3. lack of desired level of capacity on part of public sectors 4. Internal capacity gap 5. Lack of training infrastructure to accommodate existing demand. The college develops tailor-made plan to solve the obstacles it encounters. For instance, The college has worked intensively to build its internal capacity; the college has provided continuous training and public servants education to improve knowledge, skill and attitude. The college has worked with development partners to fulfill infrastructure, etc.

D. Impact and Sustainability

 10. What were the key benefits resulting from this initiative?
The college has conducted impact assessment to measure customers' reaction, customers' learning, customers' behavior, and customers' results. On top of this, the college has conducted comprehensive public opinion survey and realized that public trust on government, public trust on service delivery system, public trust on development, etc has been improved. Overall customers’ satisfaction on current government and its executive, legislative and judiciary wing has shown improvement from year to year and, demanding society who claims rights and who is ready to fulfill responsibility is being created. Customer-orientation mentality is created in public institutions.

 11. Did the initiative improve integrity and/or accountability in public service? (If applicable)
Embracing, generating, implementing and sustaining public sector reform initiative is the mission of the college. Thus, college organizes national and regional workshops to transfer the result The college has designed and implemented knowledge management and best practice strategy to organize and transfer innovations. The college strongly works on diversifying its revenue generation strategy and cost saving strategy while properly executing its mission. The college has developed community-college partnership to relate gown with town and gown with rural areas. The college has developed change orientation and quality culture. The college is environmental friendly and stick to corporate social responsibility.

 12. Were special measures put in place to ensure that the initiative benefits women and girls and improves the situation of the poorest and most vulnerable? (If applicable)
Public sector reform needs extraordinary commitment from leaders, employees, beneficiaries, and partners. Thus, both supply side and demand side of public service reform must work hand in hand to bring true transformation in public service 2. All development endeavors in the absence of public sector reform is a futile exercise 3. Compressive change initiatives instead of standalone initiative is important 4. Changing value and attitude is more difficult than changing knowledge and skill; but it must be done with endurance and determination if transformation real is needed 6. Investment in human resource of a country and an organization, developing smooth service delivery system and designing and organizing public organization properly should be performed simultaneously. 7. Continuous support, coaching, monitoring and evaluation, is critical to maintain change momentum in public sectors

Contact Information

Institution Name:   rvice College of Oromia
Institution Type:   Government Agency  
Contact Person:   Niguse Zenebe
Title:   Mr  
Telephone/ Fax:  
Institution's / Project's Website:  
E-mail:   nigusetadese@gmail.com  
Address:   Public Service College of Oromia
Postal Code:   P.O.Box 209
City:   Batu/ Ziway
State/Province:   Oromia
Country:  

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