Ministry of Home Affairs proposes to inspect the quality of civil servant input nationwide

The Ministry of Home Affairs said that according to current regulations in Decree No. 161/2018/ND-According to the Government's Decree dated November 29, 2018 amending and supplementing a number of regulations on recruitment of civil servants and public employees, promotion of civil servants and public employees, the recruitment of civil servants and public employees is organized in 2 rounds.

Round 1 is a multiple choice test on general knowledge, foreign languages, and information technology to ensure accuracy in grading and ease of application of information technology. Round 2 is a professional test in the form of an interview, practice, or written test as decided by the head of the competent recruitment agency.

The implementation of the recruitment exam with 2 rounds has created certain positive changes. However, the current round 1 exam conducted by recruitment agencies sometimes has shortcomings and limitations.

The assessment content is not inferential and analytical, focusing on testing knowledge but lacking in assessing the ability to apply knowledge, attitude and sense of responsibility, so it has not fully verified the capacity and quality of candidates to help screen and select candidates suitable for the requirements of the civil service in general and the recruitment position in particular.

The professionalism in conducting the first round of the exam is not high enough to meet the requirements of innovation in civil servant recruitment exams.

To overcome the limitations and shortcomings in civil servant recruitment, ensure a common level of civil servant quality nationwide, and screen candidates with basic knowledge and skills necessary for the civil servant positions to be recruited, the Ministry of Home Affairs proposed to innovate the content of civil servant input quality assessment.

Propose 2 innovation options

The draft proposes two options for innovation in the unified content of input quality assessment of civil servants as follows:

Option 1, the content of the civil servant input quality assessment assesses the comprehensive capacity of candidates taking the exam in terms of knowledge, skills, and attitudes, covering the areas of the Party's policies and guidelines, the Constitution, the State's laws on the industry, field, rights and obligations of civil servants, knowledge of culture, history, communication skills, public ethics, etc.; ensuring the assessment of candidates' cognitive capacity, thinking capacity, and practical application capacity.

Contents on general knowledge, foreign languages, and information technology will be combined into one test with a duration of at least 180 minutes.

The question bank for assessing the quality of civil servant input is approached with a new way of thinking based on the necessary competency framework for a civil servant (core competency, professional competency, management competency) (with attached appendix).

The assessment is not only to assess the general knowledge, foreign languages, and information technology of candidates as in the civil service recruitment content in the recent period, but also to comprehensively assess the candidates' capacity (assess the basic and necessary understanding for the civil service position; understanding of duties, tasks, abilities, skills, attitudes, and responsibilities to be ready to undertake the civil service position according to the requirements of the job position).

The question bank is built by experts, scientists, managers from leading training, fostering, and research institutions in the country, state management agencies, and civil servant employing agencies to ensure the quality of the exam bank.

Option 2, continue to innovate the test content according to Decree 161/2018/ND-CP in the direction of increasing the duration and number of questions to create a more comprehensive basis for assessing the candidates' abilities. The number of questions in general knowledge, foreign languages, and information technology is expected to be 100 questions per subject.

The content of the questions is approached in the direction of assessing capacity (knowledge, skills, attitudes) instead of simply assessing knowledge equipped in the national education system.

The Ministry of Home Affairs proposes to choose option 1.

The certificate is valid nationwide and for all job positions.

According to option 1 proposed by the Ministry of Home Affairs, candidates will have to take an entrance examination for civil service quality. After that, if they answer 50% or more of the questions correctly for each part of the exam, they will be granted a certificate by the assessment unit.

This certificate is the basis for civil servant recruitment agencies to carry out the next steps in the recruitment process. The certificate is valid for 12 months from the date of issue for candidates to register for round 1 recruitment, valid nationwide and for all recruitment positions.

The input quality assessment will be done on computer, candidates will know the results immediately after taking the test and will be granted a certificate after 5 working days.

The centralized quality assessment locations will be held in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Thua Thien - Hue and Buon Ma Thuot. In case candidates are not able to take the assessment at the above 4 locations, the input quality assessment unit will arrange personnel, software, and a test bank to carry out the assessment locally.

The centralized entrance quality assessment will be conducted at least twice a year. Candidates who fail the test can re-register after 6 months from the previous failed assessment.

Accordingly, the roadmap for implementing the Project is as follows: Conducting input quality inspection of civil servants for central agencies from 2021 - 2022. After 2022, synchronously implement the contents of the Project.

The Ministry of Home Affairs said that the Project will contribute to reducing State and social costs in civil servant recruitment exams, ensuring objectivity, fairness and professionalism in the process of assessing the quality of civil servant input.

The Ministry of Home Affairs is soliciting public comments on this draft at the Ministry's Electronic Information Portal.