Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus presides the 9th meeting of National Training Council at the State Guest House Jamuna on Wednesday. Photo : PID

National Training Council (NTC) has shortened the foundation training course for BCS cadre officers from six months to four months.

The revised training will include three months at training institutions and one month of field-level orientation and village attachment.

This decision was made during the 9th meeting of NTC, chaired by Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus, according to a press release from Chief Adviser’s Press Wing.

The meeting was attended by Finance Adviser Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed, Law Adviser Professor Dr. Asif Nazrul, Foreign Affairs Adviser Md. Touhid Hossain, Health and Family Welfare Adviser Nurjahan Begum, Public Administration Ministry Secretary Dr. Md. Mokhles Ur Rahman and Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor Professor Niaz Ahmed Khan.

In addition to the training duration change, the council raised the maximum age limit for enrollment in Master’s and PhD programs from 45 to 47 years.

For PhD candidates, submission of annual progress reports certified by their supervisors to the respective ministries will be mandatory; failure to comply will result in withholding of salaries.

Chief Adviser Yunus emphasized the need to evaluate all government training centers.

He urged that training centers be categorized, ranked, and monitored regularly to maintain standards.

He also called for the creation of an independent unit to systematically evaluate research institutions. “We need to understand the overall philosophy of research institutions and ensure they are functioning properly,” he said.

He added that records of government officials receiving training abroad should be preserved within this unit.

The council decided to rename ‘Sanjiboni Training Programme’ as ‘Skill Renewal Training.’ Under the updated curriculum, this training will be conducted at the field level within government or non-government institutions.

It was also decided that officials receiving partial scholarships for higher studies would still be eligible for deputation.

To promote integrity, ethical values and anti-corruption attitudes among officials, the council resolved to include subjects such as Virtue, Morality, Behavioral Science and Code of Ethics in the training modules.

The council further approved research, monitoring and evaluation activities to assess the effectiveness of officials’ training programs, training institutions and related decision-making processes.

Finally, the meeting formed Executive Committee of National Training Council (ECNTC), with Finance Adviser Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed appointed as its chairman.