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At the Examination Yuan’s 63rd meeting of its 13th term today, MOEX presented two reports: “The current status of certified social worker education, examination, and employment, and directions for future improvements” and “The current civil service social worker examination system and directions for future improvements”. Ministers in attendance discussed issues pertaining to: government promotion of social safety net programs and long-term care; professional training, employment incentives, and ratio of social work graduates who receive a certificate; the reliability and validity of the civil service social worker oral exam and selection system improvements; and creating a social worker examination system that considers indigenous needs. Examination Yuan President Huang Jong-tsun commented that coordination is needed between education, examination, and employment to improve the social worker human resources pool. To enhance professionalism in social work, MOEX may exchange ideas with supervisory agencies, professional associations, universities and colleges, and the Ministry of Education, President Huang said.
In response to a quickly changing society, the Social Worker Act was passed in 1997 to include social workers as professional and technical personnel. MOEX then began holding the professional and technical exam for social workers, with 14,628 people passing as of 2021. For the last decade, the exam has been held twice a year, with an average pass rate of 16%. The pass rate for both exams is about the same. The number of candidates passing the exam has stabilized at around 1,000; out of approximately 3,000 social work students who graduate each year, only a third will register for the second social worker exam.
In 2006, the category “civil service social worker” was included in the civil service level 3 senior exam and grade 3 special exam for local governments. Candidates wishing to take the exam must hold a certificate in social work. Since 2012, the exam quota has been on the increase. The addition of the professional and technical personnel category to the civil service exam was intended to recruit professionally certified candidates to enhance the government’s professional service. To improve the selection process, MOEX has modified exam requirements and subjects after discussions with supervisory agencies, hiring agencies, scholars, and experts. Future candidates must have at least two years of practical experience after receiving their certificate, while subjects that are tested in the professional and technical exam for social workers will be skipped. The new system will be multi-stage, with written and oral sections. The new regulations have been submitted to the Examination Yuan and promulgated on June 7 and August 30, 2021, and will come into effect in 2023.
MOEX stated that if the civil service needs more social workers, raising incentives for college students to pursue a career in social work may help attract their interest in taking the social worker exam. In addition to accommodating private sector demand for social workers, MOEX will continue reviewing and improving the exam system while improvements will also be made to the civil service social worker selection system. Reliability and validity of the oral exam will be improved to reflect the position’s competency requirements and help hiring agencies select the most suitable candidates.
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