City workers troubled by test
(eastday.com)
Updated: 2005-04-10 08:56

The Shanghai Personnel Bureau is expected to ease the English-language requirement for civil servants this year due to last year's unfavorable test results, bureau officials said yesterday.

The foreign-language requirement will be adjusted according to the test takers' age, initial recruitment date and work position.

Compared with new recruits and younger people, the passing grade will be lower for those civil servants who are older or were recruited earlier.

Officials in foreign-related government departments, such as the Foreign Affairs Office, the Shanghai World Expo Coordination Bureau and the Customs House, will continue to be subject to strict English requirements.

The details on the policy adjustment are still under discussion.

Xu Jinlin, director of the bureau's civil servant management division, said the upcoming revisions are being made to better match the existing English-language abilities among civil service workers with reality.

"We made a good start in pushing civil servants to improve their English ability," Xu said.

"But the gap between our expectations and the results told us that we should make the requirements more realistic."

Last year, the bureau introduced the Cambridge University Business Language Testing Service as the city's only recognized English test for civil servants.

Government officials under age 40 were required to reach the second level, or gain at least 40 points out of a total 100 points on the test by 2007.

Those people who failed to do so would lose their status as a civil servant.

Last year, however, only 34 percent of the 2,903 civil servants recruited were able to fulfill the requirement, while the majority either failed to score enough points or didn't even take the test.

Chai Mingjiong, a professor at Shanghai International Studies University's English department, said the test results reflected the true communications ability of the city's civil servants in an actual business and work environment.

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