Technology Major-Promoting Plans Resisted by Administrative Officials

The government decided to raise the percentage of public officials with science and technology major`s background to 30 percent by the year of 2008. These relevant positions will be found in the fourth-level positions and above of public officials working at central ministries and local self-governing institutes.

It also plans to fill more than 40 percent of new recruits for the fifth-level with science & technology majors by 2008 while trying to combine the current national tests of administrative and technological public servants into one.

The government released these plans to encourage science and technology majors to apply as government officials at the National Science & Technology Committee hosted by President Roh Moo-hyun at KIST on August 20th.

The new plans are designed to eliminate a distinct boundary between administrative positions and technical positions for public officials with over third-level positions, starting from 2005. At the fourth level positions, current administrative positions will be combined into one along with technical counterparts.

Each ministry and agency agreed to set a goal for the percentage of technology majors for each year, increasing it to 30 percent by 2008 (excluding research positions).

However, these plans are not enough to satisfy the Committee which recommended the government assign at least 30 percent of all government positions to science and technology majors while abrogating the distinction between technical and administrative positions for fourth-level positions and above from 2005.

The Committee`s coordinator Shin Moon-ju said, “Administrative officials have greatly resisted our proposal, so it had to be revised in the process.”

Recruitment for technology majors will be made through various channels such as public and special notices, opening fill-in, contract positions and cross-exchange of personnel between different ministries.

Especially, for the new recruitment for the fifth-level technological positions, a related law will be revised by this December to combine technical and administrative examinations early next year and recruit technology majors, up to 40 percent of all those hired, in 2008 and over 50 percent in 2013.

Mr. Shin said, “Those recruited by a paper-based test will be reduced in numbers while expanding recruitment based on various qualifications and academic degrees.

Detailed implementation schemes will be released by the end of October and reported to the Committee around November.

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