The Yuan consists of a Council, a Secretariat, and two Ministries—the Ministry of Examination and the Ministry of Personnel. The Council is composed of the Yuan's president, vice president, 19 appointed members, and the Minister of Examination and Minister of Personnel. It acts as the policy-making organ in all areas within the jurisdiction of the Examination Yuan. The members of the Council are expected to attend its meeting each Thursday, where they discuss issues relevant to the national examinations.
Complicated and important issues that come out of the Council meetings are assigned to various special committees in order to save the Council's time, as well as facilitate examination and personnel operations. The committees usually consist of five to nine Yuan members; members rotate as chairmen of the committees. Representatives from other relevant offices are in some cases also invited to serve on committees. Conclusions reached in committee discussions are submitted to the Council for final decision and action.
To conduct different types of examinations, various Examination Boards are formed each year under the chairmanship of the president, the vice president, or a member of the Yuan. Members of the Examination Boards formulate questions for the examinations and mark the answers. They also determine the number of successful candidates to be selected.
The Ministry of Examination deals with the affairs of all the national examinations and supervises the offices that are entrusted with the relevant examination affairs. It consists of five Departments: Examination Planning, Higher & Ordinary Civil Service Examinations, Special Examinations, Qualifications Screening, and General Affairs. In brief, the Ministry handles the recruitment examinations of civil servants, the screening of qualifications for professionals and technologists, and screening of qualifications for various selected offices in the civil service.
The Ministry of Personnel handles all the affairs under the jurisdiction of the Examination Yuan with the exception of the examinations. The Ministry is composed of six departments: Regulations, General Screening, Special Screening, Retirement, Registration, and General Affairs. The Ministry handles the personnel matters in all offices under its jurisdiction.
The Examination Yuan has numerous responsibilities and operative features determined by the ROC Constitution and various examination laws. Key among these are the following:
(1) The Yuan enforces a variety of laws that govern the form and content of national examinations. Examples are the Examination Law for Civil Servants and the Examination Law for Professionals and Technologists.
(2) The Yuan ensures coordination between the examination of candidates and the employment of those who pass. The number of persons recruited each year through examinations is slightly more than needed in order to ensure that the requirements of various government offices are satisfied.
(3) Professional internship, or on the-job training, is considered an important part of the yearly examination process for the Examinations for Civil Servants and for Professionals and Technologists. The certificates indicating success in the examination, which confirm that candidates are formally recognized as government officials, are not issued until the internship is completed. At present, those candidates who pass the Higher and Ordinary Civil Service written examination have to participate in the professional internship program for one year. For those who take the Special Examination for Doctors of Chinese Medicine, an 18-month internship is required. A similar requirement is applicable to those who take the Special Examinations for Judicial Officials and Diplomats.
(4) There is a considerable degree of flexibility in the methods of examination. According to the requirements of different positions in the government or the specialized skills necessary for licensing, the examinations may be written, oral, or in the form of an aptitude, skill, or physical fitness test. Some exams are a combination of these. In other cases, the examination may include a field or on-the-spot examination, or screening of publications, inventions, or other credentials showing educational background and work experience (together with a relevant thesis or dissertation). In most cases, there is a written exam plus two or more other means of assessment, which provides a large degree of flexibility in the examination process.
(5) Examinations for the Civil Service and for Professionals and Technologists are held in two phases: required subjects, and specific subjects. Those who pass the first phase may take the second. The scores of the two phases are calculated separately. A candidate must pass both phases before receiving a certificate.
(6) The Examination Yuan is the highest examination organ of the State. In conducting examinations, most of the related affairs are handled only by the Ministry of Examination. If necessary, other relevant offices may be consulted, but the chairmen of the Examination Boards still supervise most of the related affairs. All final certifications are issued by the Examination Yuan.
A series of innovations in the examination system is currently in progress. For example, there is growing emphasis on including a period of professional internship as part of the examinations. Administratively, papers are being graded more quickly, and phased or two step testing has saved time for both examiners and candidates. Additional attention is being given to improving and updating questions for the exams, and raising the standards expected of candidates.
While these are all considered necessary steps in refining the examination system, other improvements are also under consideration. For example, the data base of examination questions will be increased. Since 1985, the Ministry of Examination started storing a collection of multiple-choice questions relevant to the different examination subjects. Since the information in the examined fields continues to grow rapidly, such a move is helping the Examination Boards to upgrade the quality of the exams. Soon the data base will be expanded to include essay questions.
The Ministry is preparing extensive sample questions and answers for publication to help meet the needs of candidates preparing for examinations. For years, examinees have asked that the Ministry disclose questions and answers. Such a move will decrease suspicions about exam scores. The Ministry has already published questions and answers for subjects in certain fields, and it expects to make public the voluminous questions and answers for all fields and subjects so that the credibility of the examination system can be assured.
Finally, various Special Examinations are being reviewed to determine if they should be revised, expanded, or eliminated. The overall goal is for all civil servants to be selected through a fair and open competitive examination system. —(Shih Chia-ming is Administrative Vice Minister of the Ministry of Examination, the Examination Yuan.)