Cuepacs on nationwide roadshow to explain PTK boycott plan

KUALA LUMPUR: Cuepacs will launch a nationwide roadshow next month to explain to civil servants the rationale behind the plan to boycott the Competency Level Assessment (PTK) examination.
Its president Omar Osman announced the boycott yesterday as the congress was unhappy with the cool response from the Public Service Department (PSD) on the issue.
He told Bernama the unpopular PTK had been a bone of contention among civil servants since its introduction because the examination had not achieved its intended objectives.
PTK is compulsory for civil servants aiming for promotions. In practice, however, there was no guarantee that those who had passed the examination would be promoted as it would depend on the availability of posts, Omar said.
A random survey conducted by Bernama confirms Omar's claim that there was no certainty that civil servants who had passed PTK would be promoted.
The irony is that even in the PSD which overlooks and conducts the examination, there are officers who have passed PTK still waiting to be emplaced on a higher grade.
One officer who declined to be named, said he had passed PTK two years ago and was still waiting for his promotion.
"In fact, the most frustrating thing is that my juniors have been promoted and are now drawing higher salaries while my workload and responsibility isheavier," he said.
This sentiment seems to be universal among affected civil servants across all departments and ministries.
Cuepacs largest affiliate -- the National Union of Teaching Profession (NUTP) -- while agreeing that PTK had not achieved its desired objectives and was in fact a cause of concern for the service, wanted the boycott to be carried out only as a last resort.
NUTP secretary-general Lok Yim Pheng said: "Efforts should be made to suggest alternative methods of assessment before we advocate boycotting PTK".
She said her union would meet soon to brainstorm and come up with an alternative.
Cuepacs expressed regret over the PSD's accusation with regard to its stance on PTK.
PSD Director-General Tan Sri Ismail Adam was reported to have said the government would not bow to Cuepacs' demand for PTK to be abolished and wanted the union leaders to stop making threats.
Omar said Cuepacs did not intend to make a threat when stating that it would boycott PTK examinations should it continue next year.
"What was raised in Kota Kinabalu was the congress' decision voiced by Grade 17 to 44 officers," he said.
Universiti Utara Malaysia Employees Union honorary secretary Samsudin Oli Mohamed said his union supported the move to be taken by Cuepacs.
"The statement by Cuepacs president was not a threat but came from the heart of about 1.2 million public servants in the country."The decision was reached after a heated debate. Besides, Cuepacs has for five years been calling for PTK to be replaced with another staff assessment mechanism," he said.