Govt to re-hold civil servant recruitment test on Dec. 2

Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government has set Dec. 2 as the new date for the civil service recruitment test for hundreds of thousands of applicants in five towns, who could not sit the national examination on Wednesday due to technical glitches facing the officials administering the selection process.

Deputy Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare for state employees' education Jahja Umar said reserved materials for the delayed test had all been printed and were ready for use.

"The delay did not force us to prepare new test papers, because we are always ready with reserves in anticipation of the possible leakage of the papers," Jahja said during his visit to Surabaya.

The first civil service recruitment test to be held simultaneously throughout the country on Wednesday was marred by the late arrival of test papers in the West Java town of Garut, Surabaya, the Jambi capital of Jambi, the Bali regency of Gianyar and the Papuan regency of Biak. The test was postponed in those towns.

The Office of the Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare has been appointed to administer the nationwide test, which saw over 4.5 million job seekers vying for 204,000 vacancies in various government institutions at all levels.

He said the East Java administration had picked a new company to print the reserve test papers, replacing the firm that had failed to deliver on its promise.

Separately, State Minister of Administrative Reforms Taufik Effendi apologized for the delay, which he blamed on the poor preparation of government officials involved in the recruitment process.

"We have to admit to the lack of competence and seriousness of the administrator of the admission test," he said on Friday.

However, he asserted that the technical problem should not overshadow the fact that the first computerized recruitment test ran well in most parts of the country.

"Only five out of 440 regencies or municipalities in Indonesia faced problems. Should we jump to the conclusion that the selection process has not been successful?" he said,

He asked the public not to worry about reported bribery attempts and cheating, since less people were involved in the test.

"You can't bribe a computer, can you? So it's perfectly safe. Whatever the result of the test, it will be fair," he said.

Secretary-general of the State Employment Agency (BKN) Eko Sutrisno said the government was revising the administration of the recruitment test to avoid further mistakes.

In Manado, North Sulawesi, two residents, Dance Mokodaser and Alvin Winokan, said they had seen test materials that had not been sealed before they were distributed to applicants.

They also claimed to have seen a number of civil servants selling the answers around the test venue.

According to witnesses, some of the civil servants had photocopied the papers before quickly filling in the answers and distributing them to their customers.

Meanwhile in Medan, North Sumatra, an answer sheet to the test was found among the candidates sitting it.

"The police should apprehend whoever leaked the test," urged Rijal Sirait, a member of the Medan legislature.