Public Service Training in OECD Countries

The public service in central and eastern Europe has to adapt to an enormous number of changes in a veryshort time. The staff is faced with a constantly changing regulatory framework which needsimplementation and enforcement, as well as new demands from the growing private sector and thecitizenry at large. These challenges can only be met if the staff is highly qualified and constantly updatingtheir qualifications. A sound system of in-service training is therefore crucial to keep the personnel withinthe public service on equal footing with the rapidly changing environment.This short paper is meant to point out the determining components of training systems, and advantagesand disadvantages of possible solutions as they were developed in OECD countries, in order to assistcountries in central and eastern Europe to set up a sound training system, while avoiding mistakes alreadyexperienced in OECD countries.