English will be included as a test subject in all civil service examinations within two years, Minister of Examinations Kirby Yang (楊朝祥) told a press conference on Thursday.
English is currently included in 80 percent of the nation’s 315 categories of civil service exams.
Examinations for tax collectors, transportation workers, promotions in the police force and for the mentally and physically challenged are exempted from English proficiency tests, Yang said.
After the changes, only the physically and mentally challenged will be exempt from the policy, because it may be difficult for visually and hearing impaired test-takers to learn English, but their right to work as public servants is protected by the Constitution, Yang said.
The ministry also plans to increase the proportion of English in other civil service exams, list English proficiency as a required professional skill for certain positions that need it, and add passing the General English Proficiency Test (GEPT) a prerequisite to taking the civil service exam in the future, Yang said.
In preparation to make passing the GEPT a prerequisite, the ministry will establish a set of standards on which level of the GEPT certificate a test-taker must acquire prior to signing up for the public servant exam and will set up an English proficiency review commission for national exams.
In the initial phase, the new rule will first apply to special exams for diplomatic and consular personnel, international information personnel, international trade personnel and civil aviation personnel.
Yang said he would push for the computerization of public servant exams to increase efficiency.
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