The Examination Yuan unveiled a plan yesterday to develop a personality test for government employees taking part in on-the-job training programs, with the aim of enhancing the efficacy of the programs.
The test will be helpful in analyzing the personality traits of trainees and evaluating their training needs, said Chang Ming-chu (張明珠), chairwoman of the Examination Yuan’s Civil Service Protection and Training Commission that supervises civil service.
Chang said the test results will also serve as a reference for government agencies when deciding which employees are most suitable for certain jobs.
The commission is also planning to introduce a competence evaluation system to determine the training needs of civil servants, she said.
Examination Yuan President John Kuan (關中) said building up a talent pool in the civil service system is crucial to ensuring national progress and social harmony.
In other news, the Executive Yuan’s Central Personnel Administration recently moved to cap the number of temps working at governmental agencies at 15,000.
The measure, came in response to recent protests by labor activists, but failed to meet with the groups’ demand that the government forbid its agencies from using temp workers to fill job openings.
As of the end of January, the number of temps working in government agencies, public schools and state-run enterprises was estimated at 15,514.
Government statistics showed that the country has seen a rapid increase in the number of temporary workers, rising from 60,000 in 1996, to 130,000 in 2003, and 687,000 in May last year.
The Council of Labor Affairs is in the process of drawing up a draft law to regulate temp agencies but has yet to reach consensus with labor groups.
Taiwanese paleontologists have discovered fossil evidence that pythons up to 4m long inhabited Taiwan during the Pleistocene epoch, reporting their findings in the international scientific journal Historical Biology. National Taiwan University (NTU) Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology associate professor Tsai Cheng-hsiu (蔡政修) led the team that discovered the largest snake fossil ever found in Taiwan. The single trunk vertebra was discovered in Tainan at the Chiting Formation, dated to between 400,000 and 800,000 years ago in the Middle Pleistocene, the paper said. The area also produced Taiwan’s first avian fossil, as well as crocodile, mammoth, saber-toothed cat and rhinoceros fossils, it said. Discoveries
Taiwanese paleontologists have discovered fossil evidence that pythons up to 4m long inhabited Taiwan during the Pleistocene epoch, reporting their findings in the international scientific journal Historical Biology. National Taiwan University (NTU) Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology associate professor Tsai Cheng-hsiu (蔡政修) led the team that discovered the largest snake fossil ever found in Taiwan. A single trunk vertebra was discovered in Tainan at the Chiting Formation, dated to between 800,000 to 400,000 years ago in the Middle Pleistocene, the paper said. The area also produced Taiwan’s first avian fossil, as well as crocodile, mammoth, sabre-toothed cat and rhinoceros fossils, it said. Discoveries
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
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