From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HoSF), Didi Walson-Jack, has reiterated the need for public servants to align with the digitalization policy of the Federal Civil Service and the Renewed Hope Agenda of the present Administration.
“For you to be relevant in today’s Civil Service under the digitalisation programme, you must be computer literate and you need to up your game if you are not in that position yet because there are programmes put in place to train officers in line with global best practices”, she said at the tour of some designated Centres for the 2024 compulsory Confirmation and Promotion Examination (COMPRO) Computer Based Test (CBT) conducted by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF) in collaboration with the Joint Admissions Matriculation Board (JAMB).
Represented by the Permanent Secretary Common Services Office, Raymond Omachi, the HoSF expressed satisfaction with the CBT process deployed for the examination, stating that it will not only ease result transmission time but also ensure transparency and efficiency in the Service.
In a statement signed by Director of Communications, Eno Olotu, the Head of Service added that the CBT examination is in line with the digitalization policy drive embedded in Pillar 5 of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan 2021-2025 (FCSSIP-25), which is also in sync with the vision of the present administration on quality service delivery and sustainable development.
“For you to be relevant in today’s Civil Service under the digitalisation programme, you must be computer literate and you need to up your game if you are not in that position yet because there are programmes put in place to train officers in line with global best practices,” she emphasized.
The Permanent Secretary, Career Management Office (CMO), Fatima Mahmood, stated that the CBT Examination is meant to test the knowledge of officers on the rudiments of the service, having spent two (2) years on probation as public servants. She stressed that the choice of CBT rules out cheating and manipulation, thereby creating room for a seamless process.
Mahmood further said that attaining the digitalization reform policy objectives of transforming the Federal Civil Service into a world-class service will involve leveraging technology to improve the skill gap of officers to make them competitive in today’s changing world.
The 2024 COMPRO exercise for junior category officers featured 12,444 candidates, including 2,324 from the FCT, in the 45 centres nationwide. The OHCSF is responsible for conducting the examination for public servants annually.