BELARUS
President to re-educate PS
The President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko (pictured) has demanded a “remodelled” education system for the country’s Public Servants.
The authoritarian leader, who has ruled the Eastern European country for almost a quarter of a century, said he had appointed Gennady Palchik as the new Rector of the Public Administration Academy.
“It is necessary to rework the entire education system,” Mr Lukashenko said.
“Then it is necessary to change the curricula. We need to hire professors who are genuine patriots — people with state interests at heart.”
He complained that students at the Academy were seeking education for the sake of education.
“A second degree, a third one, a fifth one for some … they don’t need all this education to be patriotic Public Servants,” Mr Lukashenko said.
Minsk, 23 May 2018
UNITED KINGDOM
EU citizens ‘victims of Brexit’
The former head of the UK Public Service, Lord Kerslake says European Union citizens living in the UK could become victims of a “hostile environment policy” following the country’s departure from the EU (Brexit).
Lord Kerslake, who led the Public Service between 2012 and 2014, said the Government’s anti-immigration policies and the Home Office’s inability to cope with the huge numbers of EU citizens applying to remain in the UK compounded the problem.
The Home Office faces the huge administrative task of processing the applications of nearly four million EU nationals in the near future, as well as trying to prepare and implement a post-Brexit immigration policy that does not currently exist.
Lord Kerslake said that while the new Home Secretary, Sajid Javid had been robust in acknowledging the core problems of the hostile policy environment, his words meant little without new legislation.
London, 20 May 2018
INDIA
New rules for new starters
The Indian Government is considering a change in the way successful candidates in the annual Public Service examinations are allocated positions in various Departments.
At present, the decision is made immediately after the results are published, with those who top the examination usually going to the elite Indian Administrative Service or the Foreign Service.
Now the Government wants candidates to undergo a three-month “foundation course” before being allocated to a Department.
The Departments would then be asked to give due weight to the candidates’ performance in the foundation course, alongside their examination score.
New Delhi, 21 May 2018
CZECH REPUBLIC
Public broadcaster supported
Efforts by some Czech politicians to abolish, privatise or control public service media has been opposed in a 16,000-strong petition presented to the country’s Parliament.
The petition’s author, David Smoljak said the media should be independent of political power.
He said collectors were pleasantly surprised by citizens’ responses.
“When collecting the signatures no one rejected us aggressively,” Mr Smoljak said.
“We began preparing the petition in response to the latest Presidential and Parliamentary election when the highest elected officials began attacking the public service media, especially Czech Television.”
Prague, 19 May 2018
MALAYSIA
State plans PS restructure
The Chief Minister of the Malaysian State of Malacca, Adly Zahari has announced a plan to restructure the Public Service in an effort to make it more responsive to the needs of the people.
Mr Adly said the restructure did not mean that anyone would lose their job.
“The question of reducing Civil Servants does not arise,” Mr Adly said.
“However, it will involve the transferring of Civil Servants and where there is a weakness, we will improve with training and so on.”
Malacca has about 8,000 PS employees serving the Government and various Agencies.
Malacca City, 22 May 2018
UNITED STATES
PS appointments threatened
Legislators in the US State of Pennsylvania have voted to strip the power to make Public Service appointments from the independent Civil Service Commission and put it under the control of the Governor’s Office of Administration.
The decision, by a Committee of the State’s Senate, rejected objections by the Pennsylvania Council of War Veterans that questioned the need for reducing the Commission’s powers.
Chair of the Pennsylvania War Veterans Council, Keith Beebe said the politicians’ planned “break-up” of the Commission, whose goal is to insulate State hiring from politics, “should raise alarm bells for all of us”.
Supporters of the move say it will speed up the State’s adoption of an online job-application system.
The measure still has to be voted on by the full Senate and House of Representatives.
Harrisburg, 23 May 2018
KENYA
Uni selection plan opposed
Kenya’s academics are pushing back against a Government plan to appoint university Vice-Chancellors through the Public Service Commission.
Secretary-General of the Universities’ Academic Staff Union, Constantine Wasonga said the appointment of Vice-Chancellors should be left to University Councils, which were made up of people versed in education matters.
A Bill before Parliament said Vice-Chancellors of public universities should be appointed by University Councils “in consultation with the Cabinet Secretary, after a competitive process conducted by the Public Service Commission”.
“This means the choice will have already been made for us, hence the proposed laws are unacceptable to us,” Mr Wasonga said.
“The selection of university heads should be exclusively left to academicians.”
Nairobi, 24 May 2018
