The Training Unit of PKSF aims to develop the capacity of officials of its Partner Organizations (POs). It arranges highly customized training courses with specially designed training modules covering a wide range of areas in management of financial services, sustainable development, and poverty alleviation. In 1997, PKSF started a training program to increase the capacity of the human resources of its POs and established a separate training unit. This Unit offers training to the POs’ officials as well as assists in arranging internship programs for university students. It also arranges exposure visits for both domestic and foreign delegates of different organizations.
One of the important tasks of PKSF’s Training Unit is to prepare trainee-friendly manuals divided into different training modules for each of the training courses offered. These manuals help trainers conduct training courses effectively for people who are implementing different interventions at the PO level. The Training Unit also organizes training for organizations from both home and abroad who are keen to understand the development efforts taken by PKSF.
PKSF Training Values
The Training Unit conducts all its activities based on specific values and ensures that the values are adopted at all levels. The core values of the Unit are:
- Diversity and inclusion
- Gender Equality
- Inclusive Development
- Innovation
- Commitment
- People at the Center
- Team Work
- Result-driven Initiatives
- Networking
- Change Management
Overall Objectives
General Objectives
The overall goal of the PKSF Training Unit is to improve the professional capacity of officials of the POs. The Specific Objectives of the Unit are:
- To develop and provide training courses for the officials of PKSF’s POs to enhance their practical skills which are required at the field level;
- To improve the capacities of officials from government offices and national and international organizations by providing customized training, orientations, and workshops; and
- To extend appropriate support and facilities to non-partner organizations (non-POs) to organize training, exposure visits, workshops, and seminars as and when necessary.
The General Objectives of the Training Unit are as follows:
Knowledge and Understanding: Training participants will have general knowledge and understanding of principles and theories, as well as specialized knowledge and understanding of the training subjects.
Skills and Abilities to Drive for the Results: Training participants will have the skills and abilities required to engage in the implementation of different development interventions.
Assessment and Approach: Participants will be able to demonstrate the ability to make educated assessments of difficulties.
Double Skills and Double Loop Learning
Training Unit seeks to deliver training in such a way that participants can learn at least two things together. For example, while they are learning the tasks of an auditor, they are also learning time management skills for accomplishing those tasks. On the other hand, the training sessions are conducted with particular focus on the double loop learning. Single-loop learning is about making adjustments to correct a mistake or a problem. Double Loop Learning, as an educational concept and process, involves identifying and understanding causality and then taking actions to fix the problem.
Positive Attitude and People-Centric Leadership: Training participants will be able to: serve as a role model that other people want to follow; empower others to translate vision into results; be proactive in developing strategies to accomplish objectives; establish and maintain relationships with a broad range of people to understand needs and gain support; anticipate and resolve conflicts by pursuing mutually agreeable solutions; drive for change and improvement; accept the status quo; show the courage to take unpopular stands; provide leadership and take responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work.
Definite Characteristics
In order to maximize the desired results from the training courses, the PKSF Training Unit upholds the following training specific characteristics.
- Trainers strive to create and maintain a learning environment of openness, friendliness, mutual trust, and respect
- Trainers consider themselves not as pedagogues but simply as facilitators in the learning process
- PKSF values homogeneity with respect to age, education and experience in selecting trainees
