Experts weigh in on civil servants

Distinguished international and local academics gave advice to the DPP government on how to improve efficiency in the civil service system in a symposium held in Taipei over the past two days.

The International Symposium on the Development of the Civil Service System in the 21st Century, hosted by the Examination Yuan, concluded at the Civil Service Development Institute yesterday.

Most of the participants of the symposium are civil servants with the central government.

"After the party rotation three years ago, the DPP administration's efficiency has often been questioned," Tsai Liang-wen (蔡良文), deputy secretary-general of the Examination Yuan, told the Taipei Times.

Tsai said one of the significant aims of the symposium is to root out the alleged inefficiency of the civil service system.

After the party rotation, many heads of civil service units have been replaced with DPP members, whereas most civil servants in the system remain accustomed to the KMT government.

"Do the new heads of civil service units lack the ability to lead? Have civil servants in the system failed to cooperate with their new leaders?" Tsai asked.

Tsai said the government is also speculating whether a review of the country's civil service exam system will help the government assess the problem.

"To enter this country's civil service system, candidates need to take strict exams," Tsai said, adding that only about 5 percent of the examinees are able to pass exams.

According to Tsai, the government is highly selective when it chooses civil servants.

"It's kind of puzzling why these carefully chosen civil servants fail to provide efficient service," Tsai said.

Earlier this month, Chu Wu-hsien (朱武獻), secretary-general of the Examination Yuan, told the Taipei Times that the government's assessment scheme might be the cause of the civil servants' inability to perform their duties.

"Over the past few years, 90 percent of the country's civil servants have received top grades in their annual performance reviews," Chu said.

"But during the same period, less than 33 percent of private sector employees won equally high marks in their annual performance assessments," Chu said.

Chu said the government's assessment scheme fails to reveal the level of a civil servant's commitment.

"Some did more work and some did less, but they both [types of employees] got A ratings. They will not earn more because they work harder," Chu said.

Chu said the present civil service assessment system is largely useless because it cannot encourage civil servants to work harder.

According to Chu, the government also attempts to recruit talent from the private sector to take top civil service positions.

"Most talented business people are unwilling to take such positions because they can earn much more at their private-sector job," Chu said.

At yesterday's symposium, Max Huber, former rector of the University of Bonn, gave a lecture called "Academic Education of Civil Servants in a Globalized World."

Professor Huber emphasized the importance of the roles universities play in developing a country's civil servants.

Meanwhile, Jay Shih from National Chengchi University talked about the effectiveness of the civil servant selection system in Taiwan.