XN000022-1996-01-31 — Page 36

Reply:

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Mr President,

(a) Entry requirements are laid down for various ranks of the clerical grade, just as for other grades in the Civil Service. The academic qualifications for appointment to Clerical Assistant and Office Assistant are Form 4 and Form 3 respectively. In drawing up these qualifications, consideration was given mainly to the ability and skill required in the discharge of their duties, thus ensuring that quality and efficient service could be provided. Academic qualification is generally accepted as an effective, reliable and objective criterion to assess whether an applicant is competent for the post. Moreover, as far as the civil service pay policy is concerned, academic qualification is also the benchmark on which the starting salary points of various grades are determined.

(b)

According to information provided by the Employees Retraining Board (ERB), the vast majority (almost 95%) of the trainees attending clerical training courses possess academic qualification of Form 3 level or above. Hence, they can meet the government's basic requirement for appointment to junior clerical ranks. In the recruitment of clerical staff by the government, if academic qualifications are lowered to accept applicants who were trainees of the ERB, it would not only be unfair to other qualified applicants, but also confuse the overall recruitment policy of the civil service and the carrying out of such policy. It would further create a situation under which preferences would be accorded to applicants who have attended retraining courses in the application for civil service appointment. In that case, the ERB would be regarded as a shortcut to civil service employment, thereby imposing a heavier demand for such retraining courses as well as extra burden on the Board.

According to the statistics provided by the ERB, 100 000 trainees have completed its retraining courses. However, the ERB does not have a systematic record of the number of trainees who are subsequently employed by the Government or subvented organisations. In fact, according to the existing recruitment policy of the Government and subvented bodies, all applicants are treated equally. Since applicants are not required to state whether they have taken retraining courses offered by the ERB, there is no reliable figure on the number although the Government and subvented bodies have employed retrained workers.