Twenty-three officers from various ministries within the public service recently graduated with a Diploma in Public Administration from the University of Malta.

They were on a two-year part-time attachment with the University's Institute of Public Administration and Management.

All public officers attending the course were sponsored by the public service through the Staff Development Organisation (SDO), in line with its training and development strategy.

The permanent secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister, Joseph Grima, congratulated them for their achievement and spoke about the work being conducted by SDO, which is constantly collaborating with the Institute of Public Administration and Management (IPAM) to provide specialised training programmes attuned to the public service's change agenda.

Last month, SDO also sponsored another 23 public officers to undertake a Diploma in Public Administration.

For the first time this year, the university's Department of Public Policy is offering a Master's degree in Public Policy in collaboration with IPAM.