The Ministry of Interior has new proposals for the promotion of civil servants and public employees.
Currently, young civil servants are talented but lack the necessary qualifications for civil service positions (e.g., senior specialist - with 9 years of experience) and planning requirements (e.g., being a Party member and being included in the planning).
During the process of soliciting feedback on the amended Law on Cadres and Civil Servants, the Ministry of Interior consulted the practices of many countries around the world and offered some suggestions for promoting civil servants and upgrading professional titles in Vietnam.
Proposal to abolish promotion exams
Countries implement promotion based on work performance, achievements, and decentralization to heads of agencies based on performance evaluations.
The Ministry of Interior stated that there are currently several shortcomings in the organization of promotion examinations in Vietnam:
Firstly, the exam does not truly assess the candidates' abilities; the general knowledge subject is heavily reliant on rote memorization and does not reflect the understanding and competence of civil servants.
Secondly, there is a phenomenon where civil servants pursue certificates in ethnic minority languages to be exempt from the foreign language exam, even though their job positions do not require the use of foreign languages or ethnic minority languages.
Thirdly, the competition and failure rates in promotion exams are very low. At the same time, organizing promotion exams is costly due to the need to complete various certificates in computer skills, foreign languages, ethnic languages, and training according to the rank, requiring time and effort, and easily leading to corruption.
Furthermore, civil servants taking promotion exams primarily aim for a salary increase, without focusing on meeting the job requirements of a higher rank.
The Ministry of Interior argues that considering promotion based on "outstanding achievements in public service during the current civil servant's term, recognized by competent authorities" is inconsistent with regulations related to the rotation of officials and civil servants holding leadership and management positions and the transfer of job positions.
The rotation, transfer, and reassignment of civil servants affect the conversion of civil servant ranks (from specialist to inspector, enforcement officer, investigator, etc.), while achievements attained during the period of holding the rank before the conversion, although still of equivalent value, are not equivalent to the current civil servant rank...
Therefore, the Ministry believes that it is possible to consider abolishing the promotion exam and replacing it with a promotion process based on work performance and achievements in the previous rank.
Civil servant promotions primarily address the issue of salary increases.
Currently, only China, France, and New Zealand implement civil servant promotion. Other countries use promotion assessments to reflect the career development path of civil servants.
New Zealand only applies professional title promotions for lecturers to senior lecturer, associate professor, and professor, delegating the authority to educational institutions to establish their own review boards based on standards, quotas, and staffing ratios.
In Vietnam, there is still a situation where civil servants attend training courses to improve their professional skills and complete various certifications according to the standards of their professional titles. The promotion of civil servants mainly addresses the issue of salary increases and does not reflect the true nature of promotion.
For example, in secondary schools, there is no difference in the quality of teaching between grade 3 and grade 2 teachers; similarly, in the healthcare field, there is no difference in the competence of grade 3 and grade 2 doctors.
Therefore, the Ministry of Interior proposed that Vietnam should consider increasing salaries for civil servants and abolishing the mechanism for promotion to higher professional ranks.
Reforming the appointment process
With the exception of China, countries that use promotion mechanisms based on merit, work ability, and performance evaluation generally do not implement career planning.
Instead, they implemented a fairly simple promotion process based on decentralization, giving the head of the agency the authority to propose or decide on appointments.
For a vacant leadership position, the human resources department will prepare a list of potential candidates, ranked in order of merit and ability, and submit it to the head of the department for consideration and appointment.
The Ministry of Interior believes this is an experience that Vietnam can consider in order to reform the process of appointing officials. This would attract, value, and reward talented individuals, improve the quality of the civil servant leadership and management team, and simplify the appointment process for leaders at the departmental, divisional, and office levels.
Currently, young civil servants are talented but lack the qualifications for the senior specialist rank (a senior specialist requires 9 years of service), and the planning criteria require them to be Party members and included in the planning process. These dynamic and talented civil servants are also more likely to encounter difficulties and conflicts when it comes to votes of confidence…
According to the latest draft of the amended Law on Cadres and Civil Servants, from Article 42 to Article 46, the Ministry of Interior completely removes the regulations on civil servant ranks to align with the model of civil servant management based on job positions.
Instead, the draft introduces a new provision: "assigning civil servants according to job positions."
The civil servant job position system is hierarchically ranked based on job standards, titles, job descriptions, and the organizational structure of agencies, organizations, and units within the system of Party, State, Vietnam Fatherland Front, and socio-political organizations at the central, provincial, and commune levels.
Accordingly, the transfer of a civil servant to a higher-ranking position must be carried out through examination or evaluation, as decided by the civil servant management agency. The transfer of a civil servant to an equivalent or lower-ranking position is decided by the civil servant management agency or the employing agency, according to the hierarchical structure.
