Only 4 non-grads made it? Statistics please?

By: Leong Sze Hian

I refer to the article “Not a grad? Not a problem” (Straits Times, Mar 5).

4 non-grads who rose to the top

“Insight speaks to four senior public servants who are proof that degrees are not everything in the civil service. Although they did not make it to university, they still rose to the top.”

Only 4? Why not give the statistics?

Instead of just citing four persons from the entire civil service – we should give the statistics as to what percentage of non-graduates have made it to senior positions.

What percentage of non-Division I officers in Division I appointments?

The article also said: “As of 2013, 56 per cent of the 80,000 civil servants were in Division I. About one-third were in Division II, and 7 per cent and 5 per cent in Divisions III and IV respectively.”

Since we are able to breakdown such statistics – surely we can give more detailed statistics in this regard. For example, what percentage of Division II, III and IV officers were able to make it to what were typically appointments filled by Division I officers?

What percentage were promoted to higher appointments? Surely that is an important question to answer as well.