Frequently Asked Questions
Explore the categories below:
Study Leave - When study leave is granted “with Pay’ the officers are
required
to sign a Study Leave Bond as per section 7.11.1 of the
General Orders. In
this regard, an officer from the Directorate will prepare necessary Bond, communicate with
the candidate directly and invite him/her
to come to the Directorate to execute
the Bond.
Training
Leave - Public officers, who have been granted training leave for a
period of three months or more, will be bonded on completion of their
training (Section of 7.11.1 of the General Orders, pg. 77).
Bonded
amount = salary + estimated cost of training + 4% interest
Stamp
duty = 0.25% of bonded amount
The scales of bonded service are as
follows:
Duration of Course | Duration of Course Period of Bonded Service | Waiver Clause |
Less than 3 months | Nil | Does not arise |
3 to less than 6 months | Six months | Half the cost after 3 months service, the remainder after a further 3 months service. |
6 months to less than 1 year | One year | ¼ of cost thereafter 3 months service, the remainder after a further 9 months service |
1 year to less than 2 years | Two years | ½ of cost after 12 months service, thereafter proportionate reduction of residue for each complete month of service |
2 years to less than 3 years | Three years | 1/3 of cost after 12 months service thereafter a proportionate reduction of the residue for each complete month of service. |
4 years and over | Length of study | A proportionate part of the cost after two years complete service and thereafter by monthly proportionate reduction |
Public officers who attend local in-service training courses are not required to submit reports to the Learning and Development Directorate.
All public officers who have been granted training leave to enable them to attend a course of training are required to submit a report on completion of the training course to the Learning and development Directorate (Section 7.13 of the general orders, pg 79).
You should submit these forms to Training Administration Division through your ministry/department. Training Course Report Form LINK
Applications for In-service training courses should be submitted based on the deadline date set in the circular or memorandum sent to the Ministry/Department.
Participants are expected to meet the following criteria for all courses:
Punctuality – 95%; and Attendance – 95%
The recommended attire for all training courses is business wear/business casual, as participants are still considered to be on the job and are required to dress accordingly.
Officers should apply for study leave if they intend to pursue a course
of study for which they have NOT been nominated by their
Ministry/Department, but which is relevant to the public service.
Training
leave is requested by the Head of Department on behalf of an
officer who is undertaking a course of study that is directly related to the
Ministry/Department.
Study
leave refers to leave granted to an officer to pursue a course of
study
regard or training which is negotiated by that officer on his
own initiative
regardless of its value to the Service and for which
study or training that
officer may not necessarily have been selected
in competition with other
officers (General Orders Sections 7.1 (b),
pg.75).
Training
leave refers to leave granted to enable officers to pursue
courses of training or study which have been initiated by the Government to
meet its requirements (General Orders Section 7.1 pg. 75).
Consideration is given to the relevance of course of study to the wider public service. |
The accredited status of institutions is considered by the relevant Services Commission. The course of study should also be recognized. |
No.
A three year minimum intervening period between periods of study
leave is
required.
Five
years is the criteria used by the Training Committee in their
recommendations to the relevant Services Commission, when considering
requests for study leave.
Temporary
officers with more than one year but less than two (2) years’
service
may receive a total of two (2) weeks study leave in anyone
calendar year to
prepare for and write certificate, diploma or
professional examinations.
Temporary
officers with more than one year but less than two (2) years’
service may receive a total of two (2) weeks study leave in any one
calendar
year to prepare for and write certificate, diploma or
professional
examinations.
I.
Degree (including Associate Degree), Certificate, Diploma or
Professional
Examinations.
(i)
A total of four (4) weeks in any one calendar year to prepare for and
write
degree, certificate, diploma or professional examinations.
(ii)
In cases where the semester system is in operation, the study leave
should be granted as follows: a. Two (2) weeks only for the first
semester
examination b. Two (2) weeks only for the second semester
examination.
II.
Degree (including Associate Degree), Certificate, Diploma or
Professional
Examinations through Distance Learning
The
same conditions should apply as those outlined above
III.
Departmental Examinations
One
(1) week should be granted in any one calendar year for departmental
promotion examinations.
IV.
Other Examinations
One
(1) week should be granted in any one calendar year for any other
examinations including Ordinary and Advanced Level examinations. At
the
Ordinary level, leave should be granted only to persons who are
preparing
for at least two (2) subjects.
2.
In considering whether to grant requests for short periods of study
leave,
the following guidelines should be taken into account:
(ii)
If the examination falls outside the period of study leave, then the
officer may be required to take vacation leave to write the exams.
(iii)
Those person who have NOT been granted training leave to pursue the
Executive Masters in Business Administration (EMBA) should be granted
short periods of study leave to take examinations and this leave
should be
granted on the same basis as recommended for officers
pursuing degree
programmes.
(iv)
Those persons who have been granted training leave would not be
eligible for short periods of study leave.
(v)
Only those persons who are pursuing recognized programmes at
educational and training institutions should be granted short periods
of study
leave.
(vi)
A Study Leave Year is equivalent to one (1) calendar year, that is,
January to December.
(vii)
At the beginning of each calendar year, the Heads of
Ministries/Departments should ensure that there is a roster which
would
indicate the schedule of short periods of study leave which
would be
required by officers. Applications for short periods of
study leave should be in
conformity with the leave roster prepared
and approved for that purpose.
(Viii)
Applications for short periods of study leave should be submitted in
writing and the appropriate forms should be duly completed.
(ix)
The onus would be on the officer to provide satisfactory evidence to
the
Heads of Ministries/Departments that: a. He/she will be pursuing
a
course/programme of study which leads to examinations. The officers
should
also provide a schedule of the examinations to be taken. b.
He/she will, in
fact, be preparing to take the particular
examination(s) for which study leave
is requested.
(x)
An officer who fails an examination should be granted study leave on
only
one (1) occasion thereafter to prepare for it.
Study Leave is not granted to write a dissertation.
This type of leave request is made directly to your permanent secretary or
head of department.
Learning and Development Directorate requires that all completed applications
for study leave be submitted through your Permanent Secretary/Head of
department to its office on or before:
28th
February for programmes commencing August – October of the same
year 31st July for programmes commencing in January of the following
year.
All
requests for extensions of study leave must be channeled through the
parent ministry for comments and recommendations, accompanied by
official
correspondence from the institution corroborating the
request, and stating
reasons for the extension, exact period of leave
required and the courses to be
undertaken and a progress report. See
section 7.13 of the General orders, pg.
79.
All
public officers who were unsuccessful in their request for study
leave may
request a review of the decision.
Public
officers who were granted study leave may request a review of the
condition under which the study leave was granted.
Study
Leave is processed by the Training Committee.
Thereafter
the relevant Service Commission, through the Director, People Resourcing and Compliance, considers the recommendations and makes a determination
pending confirmation of acceptance by the institution and the signing
of a bond.
When the Learning and Development Directorate receives a response from the People Resourcing and Compliance Directorate of the approval or non-approval of
the required study leave, this information is channeled to the Ministries/Departments with an invitation to inform the respective
candidate.
All annual training requests should be submitted to the Learning and Development Directorate by September 30th for inclusion in the training proposals to be submitted at estimates.
The Learning and Development Directorate also processes offers of training received from other agencies and Governments. These offers are sent to relevant ministries or circularized within the public service.
Simple interest at a rate of 4% is charged on each loan.
When
a training loan has been approved, the applicant is required to enter
into
a bond to repay to the crown the amount of the loan. Two
sureties are
required.
ABOUT US
The Learning and Development Directorate (LD), has overall responsibility for coordinating human resource development in the Public Service of Barbados.
CONTACT US
Learning and Development Directorate
Level 5, Warrens Towers II
Warrens, St Michael, Barbados
(Tel) +1 246-535-6700
(Fax) +1 246-535-6728