Foundational In-service Training Phase I (FIT I)

Background and Rationale

The Royal Institute of Management (RIM) was established in accordance with the Royal Charter of 1990, with the primary goal of imparting, promoting, and enhancing professional knowledge and skills in management and public administration. This includes developing and conducting relevant pre-service and in-service programs. However, up until 2019, RIM had only offered pre-service training programs for three specific groups: Public Administration, Financial Management, and Law. As a result, many technical graduates entered the civil service without undergoing any pre-service training.

To address this, the Foundational In-service Training (FIT) was launched in 2020, becoming a flagship program. In 2023, as part of the civil service transformation initiative a new Foundational In-service Training called the FIT Phase I (FIT I) was developed and offered. The FIT I aims to develop general competencies for new civil servants in the Professional and Management Category and is mandatory for all the civil servants entering the professional & management category.

The FIT I program is guided by the following principles:

1. Shift from academic knowledge to competency development required at the workplace.
2. Learning to be driven by self-reflection, curiosity, and a growth mindset for progressive development through the pursuit of lifelong learning.
3. Learning processes to integrate on-the-job and classroom learning to optimize time use.
4. Assessments to be an integral part of the program to monitor and evaluate the learning  and development and ensure commitment of participants.

Target Participants

The program is designed for Bhutan Civil Service Common Examination selected graduates entering the Bhutan Civil Service in the Professional and Management Category (PMC). The participants include technical, finance and administrative services civil servants.

Objectives 

FIT I program is expected to achieve the following objectives:

• Orient to national goals, policies, priority areas, in addition to the governance, administrative, social, political and economic set up of the country;
• Develop general professional skills and competencies required by civil servants to undertake basic administrative and managerial roles and responsibilities;
• Inculcate the spirit of public service including the importance of values, ethics and integrity in the discharge of their duties; and
• Foster esprit de corps and camaraderie amongst all entrants to the civil service for enhanced future coordination and collaboration amongst sectors.

Learning outcomes

Upon completion of the program, the participants are expected to:

• Use civil service values and ethics in discharging normal duty:
• Analyze governance issues in a comprehensive way to ensure that collaboration and cooperation is enhanced between divisions, departments and agencies;
• Evaluate public service delivery, design and deliver citizen centric and quality public service;
• Apply digital skills in day to day operations making these both efficient and effective: and
• Develop skills for continuous professional development and lifelong learning. 

Program Structure

The FIT I program consist of the following modules:

Program Delivery and Pedagogy

The FIT I program is offered in three phases in a blended mode: Pre-onsite, Onsite and Post-onsite. After a day’s orientation to the program and its modules including expectations, assessment and the Learning Management System (LMS), the participants begin their pre-onsite learning from their parent agencies where they also under go induction programs simultaneously.

• Pre-onsite Learning: Completion of online courses/reading materials followed by quizzes/forum discussions etc. as pre-requisites for the modules offered. (Two weeks)
• Onsite learning: Class group discussions/presentations/case studies etc. (30 days of Class excluding weekends and Holidays)
• Post-onsite learning: Completion of group projects on public service delivery. (2 months)

The program follows an experiential learning process and are designed and delivered by experts in their areas. The facilitators use a combination of presentations, discussions, practical sessions, review and feedback mechanism. The program will be mostly offered in a blended mode.

Assessment of Participants and Course Evaluation 

The assessment for the FIT I program is mainly aimed at fostering learning and will focus more on formative assessment although some summative assessments will also be carried for some modules to encourage the participants’ complete pre-readings. The assessment for each phase of learning will be carried out as given below:

• Phase 1 – Pre-onsite Learning: Completion certificates of online courses/quizzes for the readings/forum discussions etc.
• Phase 2 – On-site learning: Class group discussions/presentations/case studies etc.
• Phase 3 – Post-onsite learning: Completion of group project on public service delivery.

Participants’ feedback shall be sought after every session along with overall feedback which will be analyzed and shared with the facilitators for improvement of the modules and delivery.

Attendance requirements

Participants are required to maintain 100% attendance in each module to be eligible for the certificate, however, 90% will be considered in case of medical and other genuine personal problems such as loss of immediate family members, etc.

Certificate Eligibility:

To be eligible for the “Certificate of Completion” in the FIT I, the following requirements must be met:

• Secure a minimum requirement of 60% grades in each module upon completion of all three phases of learning and assessment requirements;
• Obtain at least 90% attendance in each module;
• Provide/complete faculty evaluation and module assessment upon completion of the module; and
• Provide overall program feedback at the end of the program
• No adverse record filed/issued during the attendance of the program

Upon fulfillment of the above requirements, the completion certificate will be graded as follows for the interpretation of marks obtained. No certificate will be issued for those  securing from 0 – 59%.

Exceeding (Ex)                       86% –  100%

Advancing (Ad)                      76% –  85%

Meeting (Me)                          60% – 75%

Exceeding (EX): The learner has an extensive knowledge and understanding of the contents and can apply this at any given time because of the achievement of high level of competencies of processes and skills.

Advancing (Ad): The learner has a thorough knowledge and understanding of the contents and a relatively high level of competency in the processes and skills and is able to apply these in most situations.

Meeting (Me): The learner processes foundational and functional knowledge and understanding of the main areas of contents with adequate level of competency in the processes and skills.