The major purpose of this study was to assess the practice and problems of training andrndevelopment programs provided for line and staff workers in education sector of flu Aba Borarnzone over the last three years from 1998-2001 E. C. Descriptive survey method was employed tornconduct the research. Questionnaires, interviews and document analysis were used as datarngathering tools. Probability and non probability sapling methods were used to select samplernrespondents, woreda education offices and zone education desk. Out of 22 (fwenty two) woredarneducation offices ten (10) of them were randomly selected and zone Education Desk wasrnpurposely included as a sample of the study. All available 130 (64 line and 66 staff) employeesrnwere involved in the study from ten (J 0) woreda education ojfices and zone education desk. Therndata were analyzed using percentage, mean and t-test.rnThe findings of the study revealed that woredas education offices and the zone education deskrnfound to have no formally set staj/training and development policy and there was no practice ofrnconducting training and development needs analysis. Besides, training and developmentrnobjectives were not achieved as per the plan and lack of awareness, adequate budget, trainingrnfacilities and trained man power were the major constraints to design and implement effectivernand efficient training and development programs. Moreover, on-the-job and oj/-the-job trainingrnand development methods were not exhaustively used and there was no system of evaluatingrntraining and development programs in the organizations. From the findings of the study it canrnbe concluded that appropriate training and development programs were not designed andrnimplemented in the zone that can improve the knowledge, skill and attitude of employees and thernoverall performance of the organization.rnBased on the findings, the following recommendations were forwarded. Oromia educationrnbureau should develop regional training and development policy and provide technicalrnassistance to zone and woreda education offices in developing and implementing their ownrnorganizational training and development policies. Needs analysis is the base for effective andrnefficient design and implementation of training and development programs and helps to identifyrnthe gap actual exists. Therefore, organizations should cooperate with public college (Metu TTC)rnand private colleges and/ or organize committee that comprises representatives that have thernknowledge, skill and commitment from different process owners of their organization to conductrncomprehensive training and development needs analysis. More over, all employees in the officernshould be aware of the benefits and cost effective nature of on-the-job methods through series ofrnwork shops/seminars so that both employees and the organization can benefit from applyingrnthese methods complimentary to off-the- job training and development methods. Mechanismsrnsuch as using standardized format and other strategies should be set to evaluate the outcomes ofrntraining and development programs. Finally, the education offices should include training andrndevelopment programs in its annual budget plan and a/locate adequate budget andlor developrnconvincing training and development proposal and submit to non governmental organizationsrnlike Men shin for men shin, World vision to obtainfundfor designing and implementing trainingrnand development programs.