Bangladesh Civil Service Administration Academy

Bangladesh Civil Service Administration Academy an institute meant for basic training on law and administration for officers of the Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) administration cadre. Established on 21 October 1987, the Academy was initially responsible for imparting training to young and mid-level officers belonging to the BCS administration cadre only, though the BCS (Foreign service) officers had been attached to it for sometime between 1989 and 1996. The Academy is attached to the Ministry of Establishment and is located at Shahbag of Dhaka city in a building that used to house the Gazetted Officers' Training Academy during the Pakistan period and the Civil Officers' Training Academy after independence. Generally, trainees of the administrative cadre attend the Academy's prescribed professional training course on completion of the compulsory foundation training course with new recruits of all other cadres from Bangladesh Public Administration Training Centre, Savar, Dhaka.

The main objectives of this national administrative training academy are: (a) to impart professional training to the members of the BCS (administration) cadre to improve their knowledge and skills regarding criminal laws, land laws, various minor acts, rules and regulations, public administration, development administration and good governance; (b) to enable young officers to study the Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh and other basic laws and internalise their spirit and consider their implications for the public servants; (c) to facilitate sharing of ideas and experiences between young and senior members of the service by organising seminars, symposia, workshops etc on important issues in public administration and socio-economic subjects; (d) to develop in trainees esprit de corps so that they can think, plan, organise and work through teamwork; (e) to maintain intimate linkage with other training institutes, both local and foreign, for improving and upgrading the training management system; (f) to provide consultancy and advisory services to the government in different areas of public administration, management and economic development, and to assist the government in formulating policies on training and human resource development as and when asked for; and (g) to prepare and publish case studies, research papers, journals and professional books on fields of specialisation of the Academy and also on related areas.

Training courses offered by the Academy include the following: (a) a five-month long law and administration course for assistant commissioners/ assistant secretaries; (b) short courses on management of criminal courts, land revenue laws, and civil laws for assistant commissioners; (c) short courses on laws for magistrates; (d) short courses for assistant commissioners and junior officers in secretarial procedures; (e) an advanced course on law and administration for additional district magistrates, additional Deputy Commissioners, Upazila Nirbahi Officers, revenue deputy collectors, land acquisition officers and general certificate officers; and (f) orientation courses for upazila nirbahi officers, deputy commissioners and district magistrates. In addition, the Academy organises in each training year a number of workshops and seminars on management and legal issues. Emphasis is laid on applied training methods in all programmes. Study tours and visit to different institutions are regularly arranged so that participants can gather practical knowledge.

The Academy is headed by a senior member of the administrative cadre designated as the director general who holds the rank and status of an additional secretary to the government and three directors of the rank of deputy secretary to the government. Faculty members act as directors, co-ordinators and assistant co-ordinators of the courses run by the academy. Moreover, they have specific jobs assigned to them regarding the academy's administration, planning, development, research, consultancy and publication.

The Academy has a valuable library having collections on law, rules, public administration, diplomacy, economics, management, sociology and the humanities. The library subscribes to almost all newspapers, magazines and periodicals published in the country as well as several internationally reputed magazines. It carries out research in the fields of public administration, management, economic development, criminal justice and other socio-economic subjects. Its trainees also pursue short research projects during their training period in the fields allotted to them. The Academy publishes basic books/reports on public administration and socio-economic subjects on the basis of work undertaken and research findings. The academy also publishes journals, bulletins and periodicals related to training. A two-way evaluation system is followed in the academy to ascertain the level of progress in syllabus and subjects included in the courses as well as performance of trainers and trainees. [Mohammad Ehsan]