Here to Help; Here to Serve; Here for You

 

Training

• A total of 483 public officers from across the entire public service were trained in areas including: Cabinet Note Writing & Proposal Writing; Occupational Health and Safety; Managing People through Change and Policy Development; Emotional Intelligence & Critical Thinking Skills; Project Management; Research Methods and Speechwriting.

 

• The Leadership and Management Development Programme was started in September 2011 is targeted at persons operating at Director level – to boost the quality of administration of TT Public Service. We have a new group going to Harvard University and another is completing their MBAs in Cave Hill. The benefit of the Cave Hill program is that it includes a substantial on-the-job component.

 

Preparing for 2012 – the Journey from Gold to Diamond:

• Established the Strategic Human Resource Management Council (SHRM), which is governing the Human Resource Management (HRM) function and is addressing institutional strengthening of the HRM agencies.

• Cabinet agreed to an amendment to remove the qualification examination requirements for Clerk Typists and Clerk Stenographers I/II.The Service Commissions Department (SCD) appointed 326 Clerk Typists I and 122 Clerk Stenographers I/II as at March 2012.

• The public service is currently bottom heavy. Plans are being pursued to increase capacity at the middle management level by creating professional streams for functions that are currently classified as administrative. This will result in opportunities for promotion from the lower levels – people who have qualifications but not the room for upward mobility will now get the chance to compete for such positions.

• The Public Service has grown significantly in the past 10 years and opportunities have opened up for more young people.

• Conceptualised a revised organisation architecture for the Civil Service and consultancy services engaged to advance implementation.

• Initiated a project to improve the provision of Terms and Conditions of Employment with respect to Contract Employment.

 

“There must be a strengthening of the centre of the Government because the present structure, which is shaped like a pyramid, is bottom heavy and many people who perform low-level tasks are either qualified for work at the higher levels of the service or are prepared to undergo training to take advantage of the many opportunities for promotion now being opened up by the Government.

We’re going to require more delegation of authority and devolution of decision-making in the Public Service.  This means strengthening the professional streams within the Public Service.

The next level proposed is Management Support Officers. These changes will create avenues for upward mobility for clerical and secretarial officers and will create the diamond shape that we see as the architecture of the future – senior managers, a large group of professionals and managerial support officers, and a diminishing number of low-level jobs mainly because of the opportunities for advancement that we will create.

We are particularly pleased about the possibilities for serving officers in the clerical and secretarial classes who are experiencing stagnation in their career paths while they look in frustration at the many contract opportunities that are available in the Public Service. We will keep all citizens, especially public servants, continuously informed about the transformation process.”

 

 

 

Transformation Initiative

 

Institutionalisation/ legislation as part of a package of initiatives to create a supportive environment for changes that are necessary to move the public service to citizen-centric. What “citizen-centric” means is that the people call the shots –they indicate what they want in terms of services and service delivery, and the public service will try to make it happen provided the rationale is reasonable and the resources are available.

A period of internalization where public servants begin to behave in a manner consistent with being citizen friendly and citizen centric. This requires patience because behaviour change does not happen overnight. The research shows that awareness and behaviour don’t correlate – if it did there would be no smokers, no drug addicts and no alcoholics. People will know what they should do but it takes much longer and requires more effort to change their behaviour. It also means recruitment policies need to change to employ persons who have the aptitude for providing quality service.

Even as the architecture changes shape from a triangle to a diamond to facilitate service delivery, so too we need to work on changing many of the rules and regulations and ensuring that the public service is professionalized. We believe that public service is more than a job – it is a profession.

All this will be captured in a Draft White Paper which stakeholders, including the public, will have an opportunity to comment on.

Service Charters – Training in the development and implementation of Citizen Service Charter has been provided to some thirty (30) employees of the following agencies:

• Ministry of Public Administration
• Ministry of Planning and the Economy (Town and Country Planning Division)
• Ministry of Finance (Board of Inland Revenue)
• Ministry of Health (Regional Health Authorities)
• Tobago House of Assembly (Division of Tourism and Division of Infrastructure )
• Ministry of Housing & the Environment
• Ministry of Trade and Industry

 

Citizen Service Charters are being developed for the following services:

• Applications for Scholarships and Scholar Management – Ministry of Public Administration
• Targeted Conditional Cash Transfer Programme (TCCTP) – Ministry of the People and Social Development
• CXC / CAPE (Private Candidates) Examinations - Ministry of Education
• Medical Records – Medical Records Department, Port of Spain General Hospital

 

One Stop Shop (Business Process Re-engineering)

This initiative is geared towards improving speed and processing times in respect of public services at selected Government Ministries and Departments. The process began with training in Business Process Reengineering for some thirty (30) officers from the following agencies:

• Ministry of Public Administration (Public Service Transformation Division and Public Management Consulting Division)
• Ministry of Transport (Transport Division)
• Ministry of the People and Social Development Targeted Conditional Cash Transfer Programme (TCCTP)
• Ministry of National Security (Immigration Division)
• Service Commissions Department
• North West Regional Health Authority
• Statutory Authorities Service Commission
• Ministry of Education (Examinations Section)

The Ministry has also been collaborating with government agencies in respect of the following initiatives:

 

• Implementation Support for the Ministry of Health for its Transformation Agenda which is geared towards the strengthening of its policy, planning and regulatory capacity.

Scholarships

 

Cabinet has approved an Interim National Development Human Resource Needs for Trinidad and Tobago which identifies priority areas of study critical to national development and the award of scholarships. The Interim Human Resource Needs will be used by the Scholarship Selection Committee to assess and score all applications for scholarships offered to citizens of Trinidad and Tobago.

Cabinet has approved the award of nineteen (19) scholarships and the Evaluation Frameworks which will be used by the Scholarship Selection Committee to select candidates for all nineteen (19) scholarships as follows:

1.    Development Needs Scholarship
2.    Social Services Scholarship
3.    Allied Health Scholarship
4.    Scholarship for Disable Persons
5.    Library Science and Information System Scholarship
6.    Scholarships for Citizens with First Class Honours Degrees
7.    Valuation Surveying Scholarship
8.    Trinidad and Tobago Commonwealth Scholarship
9.    Scholarships offered to Nationals of Grenada
10.    Organization of American States Scholarships
11.    United Kingdom Commonwealth Scholarship
12.    New Zealand Commonwealth Scholarship
13.    Malaysia Commonwealth Scholarship
14.    Scholarships offered by the Government of India
15.    Scholarships offered by the Government of Cuba
16.    Scholarships offered by the Government of Turkey
17.    Scholarships offered by the Government of Colombia
18.    Scholarships offered by the Government of Serbia
19.    Scholarships offered by the Government of Mexico

 

The Evaluation Frameworks reflect the eligibility criteria for the scholarship and the allocation of scores for key areas for the assessment of each application such as academic qualifications, area of study, work experience and the contents of the applicants Study Plan or Written Essay. The Evaluation Frameworks will allow the selection process to proceed with greater transparency and fairness as well allow applicants to assess and score their application.

The Evaluation Frameworks are published on the scholarships website at www.scholarships.gov.tt.

The Scholarship Cycle for 2012 began in April 2012 with the advertisement of  Scholarships:

Thirteen (13) scholarships are currently being processed as follows:

• Nine (9)  scholarships which  are available to citizens of Trinidad and Tobago are currently  being advertised;
• The Trinidad and Tobago Government is awaiting nominations for two (2) scholarships offered to foreign nationals (Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Programme and the Grenada Scholarship Programme)
• Two (2) scholarships have already been decided by the Cabinet (Republic of Cuba and the Organisation of American States)

The Ministry is awaiting the invitation for scholarships from  five (5) foreign countries and international agencies.

The Scholarship and Advanced Training Division has implemented several strategies to improve the services provided for our citizens.  These strategies include activities to solicit feedback from citizens and scholars in order to foster continuous service improvement, electronic interface with applicants, scholars and other key stakeholders.  These strategies also include several initiatives to upgrade and improve the internal processes and the technological infrastructure within the Division.

Scholars pursuing studies anywhere in the world can log-on to their electronic scholar profile and view all the documents held by the Ministry on their scholarship.  They can also make requests for other services online at any time.
The Online Application Process commenced in May 2012.   Applicants can apply from anywhere and at any time for a scholarship.

 

The Ministry continues to provide the facilities for those who cannot access a computer or need to interact with us face to face or on the phone for guidance on completion of the application form.   Applicants can now track the status of their application online to determine its progress.

 

 

Telecommunications – Improving the Legislative Framework for ICTs

1. Universal Service Regulations

• All citizens of the country will access information through telecommunications services. These services will be affordable and offer a full range of basic services required by different customers, including education, health and the full range of government services.

2. Pricing Regulations

• Lower prices and better service for citizens.

 

 

3. Quality of Service (QOS) Regulations

 

• Ensures that service remains at the highest quality regardless of the provider and that the public has information that will help them to make the best decision when they choose services or providers.

 

4. Numbering Regulations

Even if you change service providers you will continue to have the same phone number.

 

 

5. Accounting Separation Regulations

• Charges for any services and facilities offered to consumers or between competing operators are fair and reasonable; and

• Encourage competition so that citizens will have more options to choose from at lower prices.
  

 

6. Data Submission Regulations

• Citizens who want information about the telecommunications sector or any specific provider will have timely information

7. Rationale for Telecommunication Act Amendments

• Making sure there is competition in the marketplace so that prices will not be inflated
• Facilitating the introduction of new technologies
• Keep order in the telecommunications market-place to the extent of penalizing providers who do not comply with the rules especially in terms of costs and services