The Central Training Administration (CTA) of the Palestinian Ministry of Interior

       Reaching this point, I would like to introduce you to the Division of the Palestinian Ministry of Interior - Central Training Administration - where I work for as a Technical Advisor. This post includes information about the profile, the status and  the history of the Division. In addition some of the projects completed and success stories are referred and the post ends with the challenges that the Division faces and anticipated problems and risks for the future.

    The CTA's mission is “to develop, standardise, coordinate and oversee training in all Security Services of the PNA by delivering capacity and capability at policy level with international support”

     The CTA activities are coordinated through the Ministry of Interior and it reports directly to the Minister’s Security Assistant, working closely  with the Strategic Planning Department, GMTC and the Training Departments of the PASF.

     CTA employs currently 9 Palestinian Officers (including the Director and Deputy Director) which are supported by 3 USSC International Technical Advisors and 4 Language Assistants.

      Looking back in 2010 when it first established, CTA developed from a project designed in 2009 by the MoI Strategic Planning Department with the assistance of international advisors. CTA's functional role was to develop, standardise, coordinate and oversee PASF training and focus on the continuing development of training strategy and coordination in order to Capacity Build  PASF Training Policy and Planning capability and delivery.

   CTA initial functions were segregated in four main areas: a) Train-the-Trainer (3T); b) Training Need Analysis (TNA); c) Course development (CD) and d) Curriculum development. The author was assigned to support the Palestinian Team responsible for the Curriculum Development which as a main task had to identify and set the basic standards for Palestinian Security Curricula, project that completed in November 2010 and approved by MoI (and accepted by PASF) in the beginning of 2011.

  

Some of the projects and successes of CTA which followed are: 

• Design and ongoing delivery of the PASF ‘Train the Trainers’ Courses (Basic and Advanced );
• Design of a PASF Training Need Analysis (TNA) Course;
• Design and continuing delivery of a PASF Curriculum Design Course;
• Design and delivery of the PASF ‘Common Recruits Course (CRC)’;
• Design of a Civil Defence “Awareness” Course for students / pupils in cooperation with the Civil Defence Service and the Ministry of Education;
• Initial development of Security Guiding Principles for the PASF;
• Development of a curriculum for  Document Security Training (German Project) in cooperation with the German Federal Police and the German Representative Office in Ramallah;
• Development of and training on a PASF Code of Conduct in the Use of Force & Firearms;
• Delivery of a Human Rights Training Course supported by the NGO ‘Treatment and Rehabilitation Centre for Torture Victims (TRC)’ successfully delivered to Police Officers (interrogation procedures and rehabilitation centres);
• Curriculum design  and support to the Palestinian Leadership College Intermediate and Junior Leaders’ Courses (design, development & delivery).

    Of course and throughout the four year operation of CTA the initial purpose and mission of the Division shifted due to a number of factors. One of the main factors was the establishment of the Genreal Military Training Commission which 'stole' some of the CTA's responsibilities. Generally, today CTA has been developed in a more 'needs base' ministerial body with expertise in curriculum desing and delivery and extended capacities in training policy and approaches. 

   2014 and the publication of the MoI Security Policy for the years 2014-2016 brought a new era in CTA and consequently new challenges. Some of them are:

• Curriculum Development  Design Courses (ongoing);
• The design and implementation of a range of PASF Logistics Officers Courses (Basic – Intermediate – Advanced) with USSC-Proteus;
• Continuous curriculum review and personnel support to the Palestinian Leadership College framework courses (JLC-ILC-SLC);
• Development and training delivery of a PASF Human Rights Training Manual;
• Development and training delivery of a PASF wide Code of Conduct (Values & Professional Standards);
• Development of an Anti-Corruption Course;

    Concluding, CTA’s future role and location will be influenced by the development of key PASF organisations which it supports including GMTC, CTI (Central Training Institute) and the future requirements resulting from key projects including the Palestinian Leadership College and Palestinian Officer Academy.