The Federal Government on Wednesday expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the first-ever Computer-Based Test (CBT) combined compulsory confirmation and promotion examinations for public servants.
The examination was conducted nationwide for about 13,000 officers from the core Civil Service, the Nigeria Police, and other Para-military and specialized Agencies by the Office, office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HOCSF) in collaboration with the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
Permanent Secretary, Special Duties Office, HOCSF, Mr Faruk Yabo, who monitored the exercise on Wednesday in some centres in Abuja, said in the past the process has been done manually but in the effort to ensure that this digitisation process for the very first time, Government decided to subject this year examination to a digital form.
Yabo said, “So far I am quite satisfied, of course, this is the very first time we are having this kind of examination and so you expect a few inconveniences here and there but overall I think it has been an excellent outing.
“And we would like to thank JAMB Registrar and the private sector partners in this process that we have been able to achieve this speed. “
According to him, the current Head of Service has been driving the process of reforming the civil service and the reform cut across different strata in the public service.
“Today we are seeing the result of the implementation of one of the pillars which is the digitisation and the local content management of the civil service records and work process.
“As you know, the Head of Service is the one responsible for conducting examinations that are compulsory before any public officer is confirmed into the service.
“All along the process has been done manually but in the effort to ensure that this digitisation process for the very first time, we are subjecting this very important exercise to a digital form, “ he explained.
The examination which is in partnership with the JAMB, Yabo said had shown a high level of collaboration between the government and private sectors to achieve the goal of reformation in the public service.
“As you can see, we are partnering already with the JAMB and the Registrar is here with us, it goes to show the level of collaboration not just between public and public.
“But also between public and privates because across the country today in the 36 states of the federation and the FCT, we have 69 centres where these examinations are going on concurrently.
“And we have 14 centres in Abuja alone, “ he said.
He said the era of manual open book examination had passed as the system was now in the era where critical knowledge and the ability to use computers is going to be the driver in the entire public service sector.
The permanent secretary, however, explained that the CBT examinations are not necessary to put people to be tested on their computer skills, but rather to bring to bear the idea of transparency and efficiency among others in the system.
Also, JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede who was also present at the centres said the conduct of the examination was perfect in spite of being the first time for such an exercise in the public service.
Nevertheless, Oloyede gave assurance to correct any error found as the process was ongoing so as to perfect the process in the subsequent exercise.
Meanwhile, Mr Adeniyi Adebola, one of the candidates expressed pleasure over the conduct of the exams by the office of the HOCSF, adding that though being the first time to conduct it in a computerise approach, he was satisfied.
ALSO READ FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNEÂ
and then