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.
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, returned to Taiwan last night after being deported from the US. She is to stand trial in Taiwan for charges involving embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes. The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said it took her into custody at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and would first question her before transferring her to the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. She was arrested upon disembarking a flight from San Francisco that landed shortly before 7pm. Liou absconded to the US in 2019 after jumping bail
Shih Hsin University President Chen Ching-he (陳清河) yesterday issued a public apology for comments made in his commencement speech last week, stating that he has asked the school to suspend his duties and halt his wages for two months as a show of contrition. At the commencement ceremony on May 30, Chen said, “If you don’t manage your time well, or your own emotions, or your health, then I am telling every one of you — put a quick end to ‘you,’ because the world has no need for ‘you.’” The comments have sparked significant controversy online, and Chen through an open
RSS