Top civil service posts must also be awarded based on performance

It is encouraging to note that the civil service has begun to group workers based on performance and not on paper qualifications ("Civil servants no longer grouped by education level"; Jan 5).

However, many Singaporeans still see such a move as superficial and not convincing.

The main reason is that top civil servants are still recruited based on their paper qualifications, and are placed on special career progression paths when they are recruited.

Until such time that a non-graduate can rise to the top post based solely on performance, many Singaporeans will likely dismiss the move to remove the education distinctions as purely cosmetic.

Seah Yam Meng

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on January 17, 2017, with the headline Top civil service posts must also be awarded based on performance. Subscribe