Staff Reporter :
The National Training Council (NTC) has reduced the duration of the foundation training course for Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) cadre officers from six months to four months, marking a significant reform in the country’s public administration training structure.
The decision was taken yesterday at the 9th meeting of the NTC chaired by Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus, according to a press release from the Chief Adviser’s Press Wing. Under the revised structure, trainee officers will spend three months at training institutions followed by one month of field-level orientation and village attachment.
The meeting, attended by Finance Adviser Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed, Law Adviser Professor Dr. Asif Nazrul, Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain, Health Adviser Nurjahan Begum, Public Administration Secretary Dr. Md Mokhles Ur Rahman, and Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor Professor Niaz Ahmed Khan, also approved a series of reforms in training and higher education opportunities for government officials.
The council decided to increase the maximum age limit for enrollment in Master’s and PhD programs from 45 to 47 years. For PhD studies, annual progress reports certified by supervisors will be mandatory; failure to submit them will result in withholding of salaries.
Professor Yunus underscored the importance of evaluating training centers, setting standards, and introducing regular monitoring. He also called for the formation of an independent unit to systematically assess research institutions and track officials’ foreign training. “We have to know the overall philosophy of the research institutions and assess whether these are being run properly,” he said.
Among other decisions, the ‘Sanjiboni Training Programme’ will be renamed ‘Skill Renewal Training,’ to be conducted at the field level in government or non-government institutions. Training modules will also be updated to include subjects such as Virtue, Morality, Behavioral Science, and Code of Ethics, with an emphasis on promoting integrity and anti-corruption values. The council further resolved to expand research, monitoring, and evaluation activities to ensure accountability in training programs and institutions.
The meeting also formed the Executive Committee of the National Training Council (ECNTC), with Finance Adviser Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed as its chairman.
Meanwhile, the government has appointed 120 executive magistrates to oversee security during the 47th BCS preliminary examination, scheduled for September 19. The public administration ministry announced that exams will be held simultaneously at 113 centers across Dhaka from 10 a.m. to 12 noon, using multiple choice questions (MCQs).
Each exam center will be supervised by one magistrate, while seven magistrates will be deployed at the Bangladesh Public Service Commission’s (PSC) control room with authority under the Criminal Procedure Code. The deployment is aimed at ensuring law and order during the high-stakes examination, which will recruit officers for various cadres, including magistrates.
