… tells HND holders to undergo one-year mandatory training
By Stella Odueme
The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF), Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan appealed to holders of Higher National Diploma(HND) to undergo one year mandatory training before they can converted from Executive to Officers cadre.
Yemi-Esan stated this at a virtual interactive session with civil servants as parts of activities to celebrate the 2024 Civil Service Week with the theme:”Educate an African Fit for the 21st Century: Building Resilient Education Systems for Increased Access to Inclusive, Life-long, Quality and Relevant Learning in Africa, ” in Abuja.
She stated this in response to
Mr. Adebayo Bamidele Hassan, a Grade Level 14 officer who asked about the dichotomy between B.Sc and HND holders in the Service and what the Federal Government was doing to bridge the gap.
She explained that the curriculum for HND and B.Sc holders are not the same, and as such, HND graduates have to undergo mandatory one year training before conversion from Executive to Officers’ cardre.
The HoSF said that this year’s theme underscored the need for education to be accessible, inclusive and of high quality.
“The theme also speaks to how the Nigerian Civil Service is leveraging learning and development to enhance the capacity and capability of its workforce with a view to delivering on national priorities.”
According to her, Yemi-Esan the first priority area/pillar of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan (FCSSIP 25), is Capacity Building and Talent Management, which is in line with the theme selected by the African Union for this year’s celebration.
Yemi-Esan stressed that the lessons learned in the recent years further underscored the need for civil servants to commit to continuous self-development, particularly in view of emerging global challenges and emerging technologies and the new world of work.
She noted that the rapidly changing work environment demands greater efficiency and necessitated the adoption of Performance Management System (PMS) by the Nigerian Civil Service.
She maintained that the PMS Policy and Guidelines have been developed and circulated to all Ministries, extra-ministerial Departments and Agencies (MDAs), adding that the core teams for its implementation have been duly constituted.
“PMS implementation has been cascaded to the Ministries, with the Permanent Secretaries serving as the primary drivers.
“In this regard, performance contracts are to be further cascaded down to the last officer in each MDA.
“This new system will assess each officer’s performance solely based on their respective Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), and it will enable tracking of job objectives across all MDAs.
“By implication, each officer across the Service can clearly link his goals and objectives with those of his department, those of the respective Ministry and the national KPIs.”
Earlier, the Permanent Secretary, Career Management Office (CMO), in the Office of Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Mr. Adeleye Adeoye, who welcome participants, stated that education is the most powerful weapon which can be used to change the world.
He therefore called on civil servants to improve and equip themselves with necessary skills and expertise to increase their performance and efficiency.
