Trainers Need to be Well Read and Informed

Datu Wilson presenting the certificate to Cik Hayati Koprawi an officer from Rajang Port Authority

Trainers are change masters in their workplaces. They can influence and initiate change in others by teaching and sharing new skills. But they must not limit their knowledge and skills to what they can get from courses and seminar. They must inculcate the habit of continuous learning and the easiest way to do this is through reading.

This was the gist of Deputy State Secretary Datu Wilson Baya Dandot's speech at the certificate presentation ceremony of the Certificate IV in Assessment and Workplace Training and Diploma in Training and Assessment Systems which took place at the Centre for Modern Management on 28 March, 2002.

Datu Wilson advised all mentors and trainers to be well read and well informed in all subjects matters especially pertaining to development and the government. He urged them to apply and relate their new knowledge in their workplaces and expand them through reading so they can be better equipped to help their colleagues to face the many challenges in the working environment.

"The love of reading is one of most desirable habits that all civil servants must develop. The availability of public libraries and other resource centres make it easier to access books and other sources of knowledge," he elaborated. "This is no excuse for government officers to deny awareness of what goes on around them as knowledge is so easily and freely available through books," he added.

He also reminded the participants to be open to constructive criticisms from colleagues as they will have to understand and respect each other's viewpoints and at the same time gather and use these feedback as a benchmark for their own performance as trainers.

The certificate presentation ceremony saw the graduation of 23 participants from the 4th batch of Certificate IV graduates in Assessment and Workplace Training and another 17 participants of the 2nd batch for the Diploma in Training and Assessment Systems (Dip. TAS).

According to the Managing Director of the Centre for Modern Management, Dr. Haji Abdillah Suffian the overall objective of the programs is to develop trainers in the State Civil Service so that they can facilitate using the competency-based training methodology. "This is a gradual shift from attendance-based training and is in line with the national policy towards competency-based training", he explained.

The Dip. TAS pro-gramme is a professional qualification for trainers and is recognised in Australia, United King-dom, United States and Malaysia. Both programme are a collabo-rative effort of the Human Resource Development and Quality Unit (Chief Minister's Department) and Centre of Modern Management.