Higher Education Minister Khaled Al-Anqari, who is also the chairman of the National Center for Assessment in Higher Education (Qiyas), and Abdulrahman Al-Barrak, minister for civil service, signed a memorandum of cooperation between the center and the ministry. It was signed in the presence of Faisal bin Abdullah Al-Mishari, president of Qiyas.

“Competency is the basis for public employment,” said Al-Barrak. He said tests are important in ensuring the professionalism and competency of those applying for public posts, adding that such is a modern administrational tool, which is applied in many advanced countries that are pioneers in developing human resources.

Staff should not only be chosen according to their qualifications, cumulative average or seniority of graduation, he said. Other measures need to be taken into consideration to guarantee hiring competent staff.

He said the agreement included offering technical consultancy and providing support services to the ministry, which provide, implement and mark typing and supervising tests, in addition to monitoring tests results and facilitating testing centers thanks to the extensive experience of Qiyas in this matter.

A mutual committee will be formed to follow up on this agreement and exchange information and views between the ministry and national center to overcome obstacles that may arise following the agreement.

Al-Barrak said his ministry developed a testing and evaluation program to implement the first article of the Civil Service Regulation, which states that competency is the basis for public job occupations through providing scientific methods for job selection. This criterion will allow the selection of competent employees who can carry out their role effectively in various government apparatuses.

Al-Mishari welcomed cooperation with the Ministry of Civil Service and thanked the Minister of Civil Service for his confidence in Qiyas, stressing that the center will offer all its expertise and services to support the ministry in achieving its aspirations.