Top grads urged: Join gov’t; no entry exams for you

Chairperson Karlo Alexi Nograles of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) SENATE PRIB

MANILA, Philippines — The Civil Service Commission (CSC) is looking for new talents to augment the government workforce: college graduates who obtained Latin honors from local or foreign schools.

The agency issued the call on Wednesday as it noted that these honor graduates may skip the career service exam that applicants must pass before they become eligible to work in the public sector.

A career service exam, either taken through a “pen and paper” or an online test, is a prerequisite to determining whether individuals who wish to pursue a career in government service are skilled and competent.

“Summa cum laude, magna cum laude and cum laude graduates no longer need to take the career service exam as they may avail [themselves] of the special eligibility,” CSC Chair Karlo Nograles said in a statement.

Foreign-educated graduates

This incentive for honor graduates is based on the 48-year-old Presidential Decree No. 907, known as “Granting Civil Service Eligibility to College Honor Graduates.”

The honor graduate eligibility (HGE), however, does not cover other types of academic distinction or awards given to students, such as highest academic distinction, dean’s list citations or honorable mention awards.

The HGE is a special eligibility for a career in public service granted only to certain professionals and those under specific circumstances.

It may be availed of by bachelor’s degree graduates either from the conventional mode of learning or open distance learning (ODL), regardless of the number of years of completion.

The HGE for the conventional mode of learning is applicable to honor graduates of private higher education institutions (HEIs) in the Philippines with bachelor’s degrees recognized by the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd), state and local colleges or universities with bachelor’s degrees included in their charters or duly approved by their board of trustees or board of regents.

For honor graduates through ODL, the open university, college, or institution must be recognized by CHEd as a degree-granting HEI and have at least level III accreditation or CHEd-equivalent in the programs offered in the conventional classroom or traditional mode of learning.

Meanwhile, Filipinos who graduated with honors from reputable foreign schools, with the corresponding certification on the status of operation issued by the foreign government, may also apply for foreign school honor graduate eligibility (FSHGE).

Higher quality of service

Nograles hopes this latest call for exemplary students to serve in the government will “bolster the quality of public service.”

The CSC official clarified that the incentive is “appropriate for first and second level positions in the government that do not require the practice of a specific profession, and are not covered by bar, board, or other laws.”

Interested applicants may file their applications at the CSC regional office that has jurisdiction over the HEI they graduated from, according to Nograles. Those from schools abroad may reach out to any CSC office.

Based on information on the CSC website, there are 10 other eligibility grants for select professionals wanting to enter civil service, namely: bar/board eligibility, barangay health worker, barangay nutrition scholar, electronic data processing specialist, scientific and technological specialist, military veteran, skilled worker, Sanggunian member and contractual or casual workers with at least 10 years in public service.

The latest CSC data in June 2023 shows there were about 1.97 million government personnel in career and noncareer positions. On top of this, more than 832,000 were hired as contractual or job-order workers.