Public administration education : the case of Lebanon -

Abstract

According to Jennifer Bremer and Laila Baradei (2008), the Arab region faces a variety of administrative challenges. For instance, many Arab states have overstaffed bureaucracies constrained by underpaid employees, red tape, low rates of productivity and low levels of administrative innovation (Jreisat 2006). In Lebanon, the Office of the Minister of the State for Administrative Reform (OMSAR) has emphasized the significance of restructuring public institutions. The most relevant point mentioned in the OMSAR report is the need to establish a highly competent administration and hiring qualified employees (OMSAR 2011). Although the education of public servants is a prerequisite to an effective public administration, Lebanon's Central Administration Statistics reports that public administration education is not a priority for the country (Badre and Yaacoub 2012; OMSAR Strategy - 2011.pdf, n.d.). There are many competencies, skills and abilities that public servants should acquire in order to fill the administrative needs of any society (Perry 2005). This thesis explores the state of Public Administration education in Lebanon at aimed at suggesting the key topics of be addressed in such a contextual program. Data was collected first from the forty-three educational institutions registered with the Lebanese Ministry of Education and Higher Education; and second from six focus groups including administrative experts and students. The findings generated by this study will benefit researchers in evaluating the state of Public Administration education in Lebanon, a country that lacks data about the discipline of Public Administration. Furthermore, the information generated by the focus groups allowed us to get a clearer picture about the curricular components of a Lebanese Public Administration program. In fact, revealed findings show that Public Administration education is partially prevalent in Lebanon and that there is a large room for improvement.