Strengthening the In-Service Training Programs of the Department of Agriculture, Sri Lanka

Abstract

The Department of Agriculture (DOA) is responsible for the generation and dissemination of research findings for the farming community. The need for better training is felt by all levels of agricultural field staff. To accomplish this, In Service Training Institutes (ISTIs) of the DOA provide the additional knowledge and skills required by the officers of the DOA and other officers of agricultural related organisations. But the training programs conducted by the ISTIs over the last few years have not shown a significant contribution towards improving the knowledge and the skills of the learners. The DOA thought this weakness was due to the lack of a proper training development process, so the DOA introduced a new training model. The progress is still not up to the expected level, however. The literature relating to the adult learning principles was studied and compared with the present training situation. By analysing the present training situation it has been clearly shown that the problems are not because of the training model but due to the way of implementing this model. This study has identified several implementation problems pertaining to the each phase of the training model, and revealed that those problems could be overcome by implementing the training model according to generally accepted adult learning principles.