More relevant questions eyed for CSC exams
Published Aug 26, 2025 03:17 pm
At A Glance
- The Civil Service Commission (CSC) has stressed the need to revise the content of its examinations in a bid to ensure that only relevant questions remain and that applicants secure higher chances of passing.
The Civil Service Commission (CSC) has stressed the need to revise the content of its examinations in a bid to ensure that only relevant questions remain and that applicants secure higher chances of passing.
During the agency's budget hearing before the Committee on Appropriations on Tuesday, Aug. 26, Akbayan Party-list Rep. Perci Cendaña asked CSC Chairperson Marilyn Yap regarding the commission's efforts to help those applying for CSC exam--particularly job order (JO) workers of government agencies--to pass.
Yap said CSC could not do that directly because "it would not look good" if the commission facilitates the review of examination applicants.
What the CSC can only do is make "general announcements" about the coverage of the examination, such as on numerical, analytical, verbal, and general information abilities, she said.
A CSC report showed that only 15 percent of the 46,798 total applicants passed the exam this year.
However, the data did not specify how many of the applicants were JO government workers who took the exam for the purpose of securing permanent employment.
Although CSC gives eligibilities to certain government workers, including barangay health workers and Sangguniang Barangay members, it does not include general job workers.
Yap told Cendaña that the more important point to raise was whether or not the CSC was "asking the right questions" in its examinations.
"That's the most fundamental question that should be asked," she said, "Kasi nga hanggang hindi natin napag-aaralan kung angkop ba ang mga tinatanong natin na questions, marami pa rin dyan ang hindi makakapasa".
(This is because a lot of applicants will not pass until we get to study whether or not the questions we're asking are appropriate.)Yap underscored the need to "begin to shift our exams to focus on competencies for public service".
"The exams should measure preparation for public service. Hindi aptitude exam kung saan mine-measure kung magaling ka ba sa math, magaling ka sa English (It should not be an aptitude test that only measures your competence in math or English)," she said.
Yap, who also served as former secretary general of the House of Representatives, admitted that even some House JO workers did not know about the different functions of the government.
"I think this can be a subject—it's an important initiative for the [CSC] of the House of Representatives. I think it's one of the more critical things, including revising qualification requirement for employment," she added.