As the continental professional organization for public administrators, AAPAM aims to build the capacity of public administrators through specialized training programmes focusing on addressing service delivery opportunities and challenges as envisioned by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Africa Agenda 2063. AAPAM leverages on our wide network of national, regional, continental and international partners to ensure a globalized approach to public administration. This model further offers members opportunities for exchange programmes, study tours and experiential learning. AAPAM entered into a partnership with the General Personnel Council of Palestine (GPC) in 2019. The partnership solidified an elaborate action plan to jointly execute programmes in areas such as knowledge sharing, research and capacity building programmes aimed at transforming the public services of both Africa and Palestine. Through this collaboration, AAPAM and the General Personnel Council of Palestine (GPC) through the Palestinian National School for Public Administration (PNSA), will conduct the first Training of Trainer Programme from July 2023 at the Palestinian National School for Public Administration (PNSA). This programme is fully funded by the General Personnel Council of Palestine.
Training of Trainer (ToT) Programme
Introduction
The African public service has experienced numerous reforms geared at strengthening administrative functions. The COVID-19 pandemic, famine and protracted war have tested the administrative structures commitment to transformation, innovation, resilience and values in the service delivery mandate. As countries take stock of lessons learned as building blocks for a more resilient public service, the need for training public servants new skills and knowledge remains to be essential. Training is defined as a planned process that is used to change attitudes, knowledge, skills and behavior through the learning experience in order to achieve effective performance in a specific 3 activity or range of activities . Training in nature is an investment, that must be useful and effective. The 2022 AAPAM survey on the Committee of Experts in Public Administration (CEPA) principle of competence revealed a correlation between budget allocation, training & development and performance with 59% of respondents reporting that budget allocated to capacity building programmes does not meet their competency needs. Effective strategies that governments can place to realize this key antecedent for development in light of dwindling resources and practical austerity measures are necessary. The ToT programme serves as a viable option. The programme is designed to support African governments to address training and development needs, by training a critical mass of trainers who will then lead in the design and delivery of curriculum addressing current and future needs of the African public service. The Training of Trainor (TOT) programme is a fully funded programme generously provided by the government of Palestine through the General Personnel Council of Palestine (GPC).
Rationale
The Training of Trainers (ToT) model is intended to engage master trainers in coaching new trainers that are less experienced with a particular topic or skill, or with training overall. The ToT model has been applied across many disciplines to provide would-be trainers with the necessary knowledge and skills for training others. It is popular because of its cost effectiveness and potential for rapid expansion of local capacity. Additionally, the development and utilization of local trainers ensure that the curriculum content is culturally relevant and applicable.
The AAPAM leadership development and training toolkit focusing on the CEPA principle competence advocates for ToT as a strategy to enhance competence in public administration as well as raising a community of experts capable of delivering training programmes thus creating a continuous knowledge transfer value chain. If implemented, this strategy can simultaneously address the financial resource challenge as well as competency needs geared towards organizational productivity and performance in Africa and Palestine.
The ToT model recognizes that trainees and trainers approach training transfer from different angles, with the trainee’s perspective focusing on their role as learners and workers, while the trainers ́perspective tends to be wider and more complex bringing together key aspects such as:
• The needs and goals of the organization
• The conditions under which training programs are planned
• The trainees ́needs and characteristics
• Technical expertise and skills in training
A trainer’s perception of training needs, how they affect the outcomes of training and how diverse requirements could be harmonized, steers the trainer’s decisions on instructional design and delivery. The ToT programme will focus on the trainer as an agent to facilitate transfer of knowledge to trainees. The programme will challenge trainers to explore curriculum designs and delivery models that cater to variables including age, gender and time with the ultimate aim of developing agile effective training programmes with SMART goals.
Documents
Application Form (27 April 2023)