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63. Training activities are a very large part of the capacity development or human resource development activities of Cambodia's development partners. They represent some 27 % of total expenditure on capacity development or about 31 million US dollars in 2002, as recorded in the survey. Bilateral donors spent the largest amount on training, both in absolute terms (13 million US dollars) and as a percent of their total program expenditure (18.2 percent) in 2002. 64. There is a clear distinction in the profile of training between on the one hand multilateral donors and NGOs and on the other bilateral donors. The former provided some 95 % of training identified in Cambodia while bilateral donors provided nearly half (43 %) abroad. 65. Five sectors represent over 80 per cent of the training provided, with multi-sector training being the largest (8.1 million US dollars), followed by health (5.9 million US dollars), education (4.7 million US dollars), social development (3.8 million US dollars) and agriculture, forestry and fisheries (3.1 million US dollars). 66. Although data provided are insufficient to verify this, it seems that most of the training (measured by individuals trained), particularly for NGOs, is provided in the form of short term courses, workshops and seminars. The question is whether such short-term training provides a sustainable knowledge base. Apart from the short-term training courses on-the-job training also seems to play an important role with a likely more sustainable effect. 67. This report was not meant to be an in-depth study of the training activities supported by Cambodia’s development partners. It does, however, provide a snapshot of the magnitude of resources that are being spent on training activities and the broad nature of these training activities. It is well known and acknowledged both within Government and by development partners that the civil service has serious capacity gaps that are at present a major constraint not only to achieve sustained development but also in the implementation of the needed reforms. Taking into account the current significant expenditures on activities that are identified as training and the acknowledged significant capacity gaps in the civil service on which little concrete information is currently available the Government and the donors community need to accord a high priority to carry out an in-depth study that will provide an assessment of the needs and the existing capacity gaps in the civil service, and to develop, based on this assessment, a comprehensive training and learning plan to fill the critical gaps. 68. There is no doubt that the task of filling the existing capacity gaps in the civil service is a massive one that will require a concerted effort over a long period of time. In all likelihood it will involve the adoption of a multi-pronged approach. While some ad hoc training in the context of the implementation of a project can be justified, the need to tackle the training issues in the larger context of filling the capacity gaps within the framework of a comprehensive training plan can not be over-emphasized. One element of such a comprehensive training strategy could be the creation of civil service staff training institutes for three broad categories of civil servants: those at the most senior levels, the middle level, and the entry level. Ideally, such Institutes should be residential institutions in order to create “an esprit de corps" and to form a basis for future networking across the civil service. They should be staffed by competent professionals who are paid market based salaries. These could be Cambodians resident in Cambodia, Cambodians presently residing abroad or foreign experts. Given the extreme constraints on domestic budget resources such Institutes would have to be financed through external sources. There is a need to explore whether some of the reported expenditures on training can be systematically channelled for supporting the proposed Public Service Training Institutes. Consideration should also be given by bilateral donors who have similar public service institutions to offer scholarships to qualified Cambodian candidates. |
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