A tale of three collaborating agencies

It is most inspiring to reveal the success story behind the strong cooperative relationship we, the Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration (SLIDA); a corporate body under the Ministry of Public Administration and Home Affairs, have with the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) and Monash University. AusAID is providing $ 47.1 million in development assistance to Sri Lanka in 2012-13. Australia’s assistance to Sri Lanka focuses on lagging regions, promoting equitable access to basic services, such as education, and improving the incomes of vulnerable people.

Monash University, in addition to a number of in-country campuses it has within Australian soil, makes its global presence felt in more than 115 countries through its leading edge research and teaching. Monash University has also developed a network of collaborative centres in China and North America. However the extent of support and involvement of AusAID and Monash University in capacity development efforts in Sri Lanka’s public sector, through SLIDA in particular, is scantily known though some of the above mentioned information is available in the public domain.

Thus, it is incumbent upon us to report the blossoming relationship between this trio, viz., SLIDA, Monash University and AusAID and their contribution as development partners bent on improving the public sector institutions and service delivery of Sri Lanka.

Human resource development

The general understanding of practitioners as well as academics in public management is the growing importance of effective public policy development and successful implementation of public programmes and projects through successful capacity building of institutions, human resource development and leadership development in particular, as promising approaches.

Opening of new avenues for public officers in island-wide services have been made possible with the breakthrough initiative of Dr. Sarath Amunugama then Minister of Public Administration and Home Affairs who approached the authorities of Monash University in 2006 to initiate training programmes with a view to improving leadership skills of senior public officers of Sri Lanka.

Taking up this request, senior academic Dr. Ramanie Samaratunge at Monash University, along with her colleagues Associate Professors Ken Coghill and Deirdre O’Neill., undertook the necessary planning, negotiations, and submitting the required paperwork to the relevant authorities to make such a training programme a reality.

She was highly supported throughout this stage by the Australian High Commission in Colombo and the Sri Lankan High Commission in Canberra, Australia. Such efforts laid the foundation for a useful relationship between SLIDA and Monash University which grew over the years into a strong bond of cooperation for training and research. Through this relationship SLIDA has been able to win AusAID funding under the Australia Awards to run an Australian Leadership Awards (ALA) Fellowship programme, as well as, through the Public Sector Linkages Programme (PSLP). Both are highly competitive grants, won with the assistance of Monash University which has come forward to act as the host agency.

Public sector agencies

Through AusAID’s ALA Fellowships, SLIDA was able to send 25 senior Sri Lanka Administrative Officers, mainly comprising of Divisional Secretaries and senior officers of Ministries to Monash University for a two week leadership training programme in 2010. Another 25 senior public officers, an assortment of Additional Secretaries of line Ministries, Divisional Secretaries and senior officers of Provincial Councils and the President’s office will be sent to Monash University on October 27, 2012 for a three week ALA Fellowship programme on effective service delivery and training of trainers.

In 2012, SLIDA successfully contested for a highly competitive Public Sector Linkages Programme (PSLP) grant from AusAID for an in-country training of 450 Heads of public sector agencies at the Divisional Secretariat (DS) level and elected members of Pradeshiya Sabhas in selected 18 Divisions through Monash University as the host agency. The modules and teaching materials of this training programme were developed by Monash University.

This programme is currently being implemented by SLIDA to improve horizontal coordination and leadership development in those respective DS Divisions. The inaugural 10 day training programme conducted for officers of Biyagama DS Division on June 18-29, 2012 was a resounding success as around 35 senior heads of public sector institutions, such as Divisional secretary, Divisional Director of Education, Divisional Director of Health, Executive Engineer etc. sat down in the same classroom with elected members of Biyagama Pradeshiya Sabha including the Chairman and the Vice Chairman, probably for first time in Sri Lanka’s training history. The political authority of the area, Deputy Minister of Disaster Management Dulip Wijesekera, attended almost all the sessions to encourage participation and to whip-up enthusiasm. The leadership and the enthusiasm the Deputy Minister demonstrated is commendable and it proved that the success of the training programmes largely depend on such support received from political authorities. Unlike many other customary training programmes, with a view to ingrain and sustain learning, the programme started with identifying obstacles hindering effective horizontal coordination and ended with a sound action programme that was to be implemented under the leadership of the political authority. The next training programme has been planned for Wariapola Divisional Secretary area in September 2012.

The promising SLIDA - Monash relationship has become even more strengthened with the new turn of events in which Monash University has agreed to assist SLIDA’s two postgraduate programmes to offer exposure to the learning environment of Monash University and public sector innovations and best practices to the public officers of Sri Lanka. The programmes are:

*Postgraduate Diploma Programme on ‘Public Sector Leadership’ to be Conducted at Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration (SLIDA) in Collaboration with the Monash University;

*SLIDA - Monash Partnership Programme for Exposure of SLIDA Masters Study Fellows to Monash Masters Programme: An Initiative to Strengthen Public Policy Development and Service Delivery Capabilities of Senior Public Officers of Sri Lanka

The uniqueness of the training programmes at Monash University for the senior public officers from Sri Lanka is that it allows a more interactive and practice-oriented learning environment rather than a purely academic pedagogic approach to training. Previous participants to the training programs at Monash University bear testament to the interactive and effective training methods adopted there, where participants have learned best practices through industry visits into public and private Australian organizations and implemented those in their respective working environments and sustained those initiatives.

Millennium Development Goals

Yet another significant event coming up in collaboration with Monash University is the forthcoming 9th Network of Asia Pacific Schools and Institutes of Public Administration and Governance (NAPSIPAG) International Conference that will be hosted by SLIDA.

The Conference will be inaugurated by the President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Colombo on December 12, 2012. NAPSIPAG 2012 will be a forum for academics, researchers and practitioners in the Asia - Pacific region where the achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of the countries in the region will be showcased to broaden their knowledge on MDG progress. We also cannot underestimate the contribution of Monash University in enhancing the research capabilities of SLIDA faculty. Monash faculty members have undertaken research studies in Sri Lanka where SLIDA faculty members have also taken active part. Monash University is committed to creating a research culture in SLIDA.

To add further value to the SLIDA - Monash relationship, Monash University faculty undertook several guest lectures for the benefit of MPM Fellows on integrated governance, human resource management etc. Monash University has even donated a volume of rare and expensive text books and journals to the SLIDA library for the benefit of public officers pursuing postgraduate studies.

The avenues of assistance from Monash University to Sri Lankan organizations have not been confined to SLIDA alone but has spilled over to the community demonstrating their benevolence where seven computers have been donated to Madoluwawa Maha Vidyalaya, a remote school in Padukka and preparations are underway to donate 20 more computers to the Biyagama Divisional Secretary office for the use of the students and the general public of those areas. (Courtesy: SLIDA)