The Civil Service Commission (CSC) wants to help government job order (JO) or contractual workers pass the Civil Service Exam (CSE) by giving them “plus points” based on the length of their service.
The CSE is conducted every two years to determine if an applicant is eligible for service in government. It has a rather high passing threshold of 80 percent.
ACT-Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro–during the CSC budget hearing with the House Committee on Appropriations on Thursday, Sept. 15–asked the Commission how it would address the large number of contractual government employees.
According to CSC Chairman Karlo Nograles, they plan to offer bonus points to CSE takers who happen to be JO or contractual workers depending on how many years they had tendered in government service.
“Ang latest na napag-usapan namin ng Commission ay magkaroon po tayo ng point system, preferential rating system kung saan ang mga JOs at COS na matagal na nagtatrabaho sa government offices, magkaroon ng plus points sa civil service exam (What we’ve been talking about at the CSC is a preferential rating system wherein JOS and COS who have been working in government offices for long will receive plus points in the civil service exam),” Nograles told the House panel.
“They still need to get the civil service exam. Kung hindi sila makapasa because hindi sila maka-abot ng (if they don’t pass because they didn’t reach) 80, but because may (there is a) number of points equivalent to the number of years served, ia-add namin yun sa kanilang (we will add it to their) raw score. That gives them more chance na tumama sa (to achieve) 80 percent,” Nograles explained.
He further explained that one reason as to why there are so many JO and contractual government employees is because many fail the CSE.
As per Nograles, the national government employs 642,077 JO and contractual workers. About 107,409 are employed by national government agencies while 487,149 work in local government units (LGUs).