Cabinet endorses recruitment of university best achievers

AMMAN – The Cabinet on Wednesday approved the recruitment of 150 top university achievers in government departments, a move described by Minister of Public Sector Development Khleef Al Khawaldeh as a step to deepen the culture of excellence and innovation in public agencies. 

Following the Council of Ministers’ decision, Khawaldeh told The Jordan Times that the appointment of this tranche of top graduates is the first step in a long process, as the number of excelling graduates hired by the government increase in the coming years. 

He added that a certain ratio of annual vacancies in the public sector would be allocated for top achievers.

“The public sector should be a place for achievement and innovation rather than a place for secure jobs,” he said.   

This is one of the tools to be applied to boost the productivity and performance of the public sector, Khawaldeh added, indicating that once recruited, these newcomers will undergo capacity building programmes to sharpen their skills. 

Commenting on recent remarks by president of the Civil Service Bureau Khalaf Hmeisat that only 30 per cent of the top graduates passed evaluation exams, the minister underlined a “misunderstanding” of the process, explaining that the contenders sat for a competition exam not of the pass/fail type.

“We just accepted the best of the best”, he said.

He added that the selection criteria focused on skills and knowledge, which were given 60 per cent of the entire evaluation mark. In the outcome, the best 150 graduates were selected according to their ranking in the selection process. 

Khawaldeh said the graduates would start their work at government departments next month, recording an unprecedented move in the country’s public administration.