New Tests for Civil Servants

President Hamed Karzai's attempts to reform and streamline the country’s government by weeding out incompetent or unqualified civil servants have met with mixed response from government employees.

Karzai last year set up a nine-member reform commission to screen all of the country’s bureaucrats. Those who pass the screening test can keep their position. Those who fail are enrolled in a retraining programme and retested again after three months. If they fail again, they are dismissed.

According to commission members, such a review was necessary because, over the years, the civil-service system had become rooted in nepotism, corruption and incompetence.

Plans call for the testing programme to be expanded into the provinces after it is fully implemented in the capital.

But while some government workers have applauded the review process, others have complained that the tests are unfair and the standards unrealistic.

And some contend that the tests give an unfair advantage to those who speak English or have computer skills.

Engineer Kabir, 53, a construction engineer, said, "In the past, nobody knew anything about computers in Afghanistan but recently it has become common.

"I think it is a little offensive to professional people that if they don't know English or computers, they may lose their jobs."

Hayatullah, 57, an employee who lost his position in the planning department at the ministry of rural development and is currently enrolled in a retraining class, said the test fails to take into account the experience gained by long-time government workers.

"They asked me 'What does evaluation mean?' but I had to tell them I did not know," he said.

He said he had been working for the government for 25 years and in the same ministry for 13. He graduated from high school 26 years ago but has no higher education.

Hayatullah says tough and complicated questions were the reason for his dismissal.

"The commission asked me questions in English that I could not understand,” he said. "Job experience wasn’t considered. These questions for a 57-year-old made me out to be foolish and incompetent."

So far, 250 of the 8,100 people screened in ten ministries and six other governmental organisations have lost their jobs and are now in government-sponsored training programmes.

Mohammad Qasim, 38, who has a law degree and works in the accounting section of the foreign ministry, said he is pleased with the new screening process.

"I am happy with the way the commission is working because in government offices qualified people are now rewarded and unqualified staff are dismissed," he said.

Mohammad Salim, personnel director at the rural development ministry, said 26 people in his ministry had failed the initial screening test and were placed on probation for three months.

"They could attend courses in computer studies, English or management,” he said. “After three months, they are assessed and if they have made progress will be rehired. If not, they are dismissed."

Mohammad Salim said he believes the screening process will help improve the quality of government employees.

"There were people in the ministry who were uneducated and unprofessional. Some did not know the difference between dispatching and receiving a letter. But now the jobs are going to professionals,” he said.

"The type of people who have been dismissed are those who simply filled vacancies. They didn't know what to do or what their job entailed. I was always embarrassed by them but now I am relieved they are gone."

Amanullah Nasrat is an IWPR staff reporter in Kabul.