Why is Public Administration significant to studying?

If you look closely at the work of the government of any country in the world, you can easily find some activities such as to provide services for the citizens, to ensure rule of law, to ensure the security of the country, to deliver public goods to the people, etc. Here, management, policies, and regulations as well as their proper implementation are required to provide these services and this implementation is done by public administration. Governments are responsible for creating policies and implementing those policies is the responsibility of the public administration. But indirectly, public administration also influences how policies are made. So, it is said, where there is a government, there is public administration.

What value does studying public administration have today? Public administration education has a long history in the area of government and state management. The context of risk management and development activities has expanded in the modern era as a result of their linkage to public administration. Development management is a major challenge in the era of the fourth industrial revolution. In this regard, specialized manpower is required. Students are being taught in public administration to learn these skills. It is the responsibility of public administration to find answers to numerous questions, such as how the state and government are run; what constitutes good governance; and how services can be delivered to people's doorsteps. When a student learns about these things, he develops a mindset about serving people. Students are inspired by a desire to serve in the Bangladesh Civil Service. Here, students know so much about government and administration that it puts them ahead in various competitive exams in this area.

Basically, the adoption of government policies and the implementation of policies by delivering services to people's doorsteps is public administration, which is directly and indirectly involved in government management. Students have to learn about both theoretical and practical subjects in this area. After learning about theoretical economics, sociology, government, information technology, accounting, and financial institutions, students have to learn about the country and political context, comparative discussion of national and international administration, administrative law and ethics, social research-based studies, industrial-labour relations, government revenue-expenditure policy, public policy, business policy and administration, environmental disaster and risk management, analysis of government activities, various practical aspects of governments’ recent activities and their discussion-criticism.

Job opportunities for students of public administration are increasing day by day in the country and abroad. There are job opportunities at different levels of government and in the private sector in Bangladesh. There are areas of advanced research in this field overseas. Besides, students are encouraged to explore research, and teachers go abroad for higher degrees. For those who want to make a career as a university teacher, public administration can be easily kept on the ambition list.

*The writers are fourth year students of Public Administration and Governance Studies department under Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University.