There are many theories that try to determine the real reasons behind problems facing the public sector. These are mostly supported by studies that the government has failed to achieve reform.

One such theory identifies an overstaffed administration department as the main cause of fund wastage, and a waste of employees’ efforts. The inflation refers to redundant sections within a single state department, each of which requires a team of staff members whose actual level of productivity is negligible.

This problem is often attributed to the existence of masked unemployment- a term used to describe employees who do not contribute effectively in any way. There are also the effects of bureaucracy to consider.

Each ministry contains a number of divisions, under which many other subdivisions operate. The problems occur when sectors are established without conducting proper studies. Each departments is required to tackle a specific problem. Some state department sectors are unnecessary and there is a lack of coordination between different sectors. This often paves the way for conflicts.

Official statistics show that majority of the state’s annual budget is used to pay the salaries of public sector employees. We assume public funds are being squandered away. Salaries are being paid disproportionately when compared to actual level of employee productivity.

There are arguments that inflation cannot be identified as the only reason for the flaws present in the public sector’s administrative system, highlighting other aspects such as political and social effects. While these arguments are true to some extent, the reason why inflation is considered the most serious aspect lies in its repercussions. There is a general decline in the government’s level of productivity, wastage of public funds as well as the damaging effects of attempting to recruit citizens into the private sector.

Furthermore, the dangerous aspect of inflation is that it continues to grow with time. If we take the Ministry of Education (MoE), we find that it employs the most number of citizens. Staff are recruited to a vastly divergent administrative structure that includes six separate educational departments, each branched out into many divisions that monitor institutions which are spread out around the country.

Some Education Ministry departments often struggle to achieve their role either because they have unclear goals or a work plan that is similar to those of other ministry departments. For example, the Supreme Council of Education was established to place the necessary policies and road map for educational work. Its job, therefore, is to provide consultative services to MoE officials, which means that its members are supposed to be an elite team of academics. The reality is that the council has made almost no contributions to the educational sectors in the years since its establishment. In the meantime, the council works simultaneously with another ministry department called ‘The National Center for Development of Education,’ which plays a limited role in actually improving the educational process.

Meanwhile, the ministry also runs a department called the ‘National Center for Evaluation,’ whose main job is to identify problems facing the educational process and to provide best solutions to improve students’ performances. Clearly, no real steps have been taken in that direction so far.

The creation of more job opportunities does not necessarily equal to improving the quality of performance unless employees are recruited to achieve a clear goal for which their department has been established. — Al-Rai

By Dr Yaqoub Al-Sharrah