Our civil servants come from all walks of life. They come from metros, small towns, tribal areas, rural hinterland and even from remote corners of India. Some have English medium background while some have Hindi or other native languages background. So, it is not easy for everyone to articulate and express themselves in a free-flowing manner while communicating with others at the official level.
So, to make things easy for them and put them at ease, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) has stepped in and is about to start special classes for them, after a MoU with the Hyderabad-based English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU). The MoU was signed by EFLU Vice Chancellor, Prof. E Suresh Kumar, and Joint Director of LBSNAA, Radhika Rastogi.
To overcome the lack of fluency in civil servants, EFLU will not only sharpen the trainee officers’ speaking and writing skills in English, but also teach them the art of public speaking. The first batch will start training from July. Indian Masterminds interacted with Prof. E Suresh Kumar to know about the programme in detail.
LBSNAA TIES UP WITH EFLU
The MoU facilitates cooperation between the EFLU and LBSNAA in sharing experiences, best practices, and knowledge in the area of development of professional communication skills of the trainees of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS). Further, the MoU enables the EFLU to design and offer intensive training programmes that enhance the professional communication of the IAS trainees along with developing their written communication, specifically for leadership.
Prof. Kumar said, “We are to basically train them in professional communication skills and writing, legal and official kind of writing, what we call correspondence. They will be doing a lot of correspondence as part of their job. So, this is where the role of EFLU comes in.”
All classes will be held at LBSNAA, Mussoorie. The training will be imparted in three months. Communication skills are as important as professional and leadership skills for the officers who are posted to various states. They need to interact with the public, politicians and senior officers.
“It’s here where we get in and sharpen their overall skillset. Training will be given by dividing the trainees into groups. Before training, we will first conduct a diagnostic test in English grammar and other abilities in the language. Based on their skills, they will be divided into groups,” Prof. Kumar said.
TO BE TAUGHT NEGOTIATING SKILLS
To train the IAS trainees, the university has selected 10 teachers from various departments. Prof. Kumar further said that since administration includes legal, political, and economic matters, apart from a host of other concerns of society, it is important that the IAS officers should understand every aspect of these matters. Here, reading plays a very significant role in understanding the nuances of official documents and communications.
“The officers will also need sharp negotiating skills that will protect the interest of all the stakeholders. This is where they need to be trained in written and oral communication skills and arguably EFLU is the best institute to offer training in all these matters concerning language,” he said.
There will be online classes and workshops, too, and the OTs will be trained in real-life situations and practical matters.
CLASSES FOR IFS AS WELL
Depending upon the requirements, if the Academy requires some other languages classes apart from English for Indian Foreign Service OTs, then EFLU will offer those classes too and is ready to provide the facility also.
The university had earlier helped the National Police Academy, which trains IPS cadres, to assess the trainees’ creative skills in English.
