Challenges involved in evaluating the national training programme at the Ministry of Oman: an insider perspective.

Abstract

Purpose: This paper contributes to bridging the gap between academic research and practice by proposing an evaluation framework, which will be tested in the real world of practice. The practice context is an insider evaluation of the National Training Programme (NTP) in Oman. The paper presents a culturally sensitive evaluation framework inspired by a Critical Human Resource Development (CHRD) agenda. Approach: This is a theoretical paper based on a review of the evaluation literature, examining various frameworks of training evaluation, in particular at the national level. The literature is extended to include insights from an insider research perspective in order to explore the tensions and contradictions within evaluation processes and practices at the national level. Practical implications:This paper presents a framework for evaluating national training programmes, which will be extended to evaluate different policies and governmental activities. Concomitantly, it demonstrates the challenges encountered by the researcher as an insider evaluator. Originality/value:This paper considers the challenges of insider public sector evaluators, while providing a culturally sensitive evaluation framework