Staff Reporter  

His Majesty’s Secretariat launched a specialized tailoring course for its support staff in the Elementary Service Personnel (ESP), General Support Personnel (GSP), and Operational (O) categories on August 20. 

70 people employed across various projects and agencies under His Majesty’s Secretariat, who expressed an interest in learning to tailor, are participating in the 3-month long course.

This is part of a series of training that HMS is planning to offer its employees, as an opportunity for them to learn new, income-generating skills. 

The initiative is in accordance with Royal command granted to the civil service earlier this month, to explore suitable training for support staff. During an Audience to a group of heads of civil service agencies, His Majesty The King expressed concerns over the financial stability of civil servants in the ESP/GSP categories post-retirement. His Majesty commanded that agencies create opportunities for their employees to gain new skills which they may be able to use to generate income later in life.

In line with this Royal Command, HMS piloted the tailoring program, which it was able to do in record time and with minimal expenses, using the resources from the HOPE project, which has conducted basic tailoring courses for wives of armed force personnel over the years as a Royal Project. 

HMS hopes that such training, which it intends to carry out with prudent budgeting to avoid outsized expenditure, will enable employees to become more resilient and encourage a culture of lifelong learning throughout the public service.