A public-public partnership was signed between the Malta Public Sector, MCAST and the University of Malta this morning which will set up the Institute for Public Services.
The partnership, presided by the chief of the public sector and the Prime Minister, was signed during a graduation ceremony in which more than 200 people working in the public sector received their respective awards. This PPP will dissolve the Centre for Development, Research and Training and will make way for the new Institute.
The awards presented following courses at CDRT, varied from executive leadership to foundation courses in customer care.
The institute for public services was established through a public private partnership which aims at reaffirming the public administration's vision to have those working in this sector offering the best possible service.
A Memorandum of Understanding was signed last year which blazed the trail for this agreement. Head of the public sector, Mario Cutajar praised the level of accountability which is present at the public sector "which still suffers from the aura that we do not deliver a good service."
He said that in the last 40 years he has been working in this sector, he has never seen such performance. Mr Cutajar thanked those who attended the training and praised them for they believed that they needed more training to perform better.
University rector Prof Alfred Vella said that the public service is a national asset. He added that university must lend a hand to provide the best personnel. Prof Vella said it was wise to have even MCAST involved.
Addressing the ceremony, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said that it will be very challenging to change the mentality of the civil sector. He said that this sector has made huge steps forward and insisted that every person's decision affects the country s performance.
"Politicians change, but those who work in this sector will stay here," he added.
Ahead of this year's budget, Dr Muscat said that the policies are set up by the government, but the implementation is in the public sector's hands.