Former minister of education Huang Jong-tsun (黃榮村) yesterday told lawmakers that he would support any effort to move the nation toward a sounder constitutional system, including abolishing the Examination Yuan, if he were to be confirmed as its head.
Huang, who was nominated by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to be Examination Yuan president, made the remark as the Legislative Yuan in Taipei reviewed his nomination.
Abolishing the Examination Yuan and the Control Yuan has been advocated by many people for a long time, and he would support any effort aimed at boosting the government’s efficacy and improving the nation’s constitutional system, Huang said in his speech.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
If the decision was made to abolish the Executive Yuan, he would not seek to cling to his post, but would draft measure to phase it out, while ensuring that its functions of designing civil service entrance tests and evaluating civil servants’ performances be continued, he said.
Traditional paper tests alone cannot meet the needs of society and the government for capable civil servants, so he would take into account the challenges civil servants would encounter on their jobs, their mobility between different fields and whether they have an international perspective, he said.
He would evaluate the need for a two-step entrance test process for civil engineers and other professions concerned with public safety by requiring them to obtain a general license before passing specialized tests administered by professional associations, he said.
The single-track testing system for civil servants, researchers and teachers is no longer “appropriate,” he said, adding that the rules should be amended to separate the testing of the three professions, which would improve the nation’s competitiveness.
During a question-and-answer session with Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇), Huang was asked whether he would support the inclusion of Taiwanese history as a subject in civil service tests.
Civil servants handling Hakka or Aboriginal affairs are required to take tests on Hakka and Aboriginal history, but those testing for positions in other agencies are not required to be tested on the nation’s history, Wang said.
If civil servants are familiar with the nation’s history, it would significantly benefit their jobs and the nation’s development, he said.
A civil servant concerned with building roads or dams could not do their job well if they did not know the history of a locality, he said.
Huang said that he supports including tests on the nation’s history if the responsibilities associated with a position would benefit from such a move, adding that he would look into the matter.
Taiwanese history could also be included as part of the training program for newly hired civil servants before they are assigned their first jobs, he added.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
RSS