ABSTRACT
Poland was the first former Communist country in Central or Eastern Europe to take measures to reform its public administration. In the Communist period education was regarded as an instrument for the development of socialist society. Industrial and technological progress was presented as a symbol of socialist advance, and research in natural sciences was strongly encouraged. Public sector training represents a crucial element in the process of political transition, for once the institutional system has stabilised, and the role of Public Administration been defined, the appropriate staff have to be recruited and trained. At the time of writing the development of new education programmes in Public Administration, and initial and pre-entry training has advanced reasonably well, but civil service training remains inadequate. There is a role for donor organisations to perhaps make their financial support conditional upon the adoption of civil service reforms and the development of in-service training.
