The Civil Service Academy under the president of Turkmenistan will start accepting students on 2 March 2009. Students will be enrolled for 5-month refresher courses for employees of state organizations and 2-month refresher courses for staff of local government and self-governance bodies.

Under the regulations, the academy will discharge 2 major functions. These are the 2-year retraining of employees of state organizations, equaled to the second higher education degree, and 5, 4 and 2-month refresher courses for employees of state organizations, state employees in charge of commercial arbitration and staff of local government and self-governance bodies.

The academy will also provide consultation services on the ground. It will accumulate academic and methodological basis of public administration. For this purpose, an academic council, doctor's and master's degrees will be set up in the academy.

The new academic structure will consist of 3 chairs - on state-legal, civil-legal and economic-humanitarian disciplines. Students will be enrolled on a full-time basis with stipends for students of 2-year courses.

Employees of state organizations will receive degrees in relevant fields after two years of study at the academy. Students of refresher courses will be awarded certificates of completion.

It should be recalled that the academy was set up under the decree and resolution of Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov signed last autumn.