A record number of university graduates from all over the country on Friday turned up at the West African Examinations Council centre at Tema to sit for the entry exams that will enable them to enter the first level of management in the Civil Service in 2008. Though the office of the Civil Service was targeting 600 applicants — it received about 2,000 applications for the 2008 University graduates entry exams. The applicants reported at 8 a.m. ready to take the entrance exams scheduled for 8.30 a.m. but owing to the large number, the officials from the office of the Civil Service and the WAEC spent three hours to screen the applicants to eliminate impersonators. Speaking to the media at the centre, The Director of Recruitment, Training and Development, Mr Okyere-Darko Ababio, said it was the largest number of applications ever received by the Head of civil service. He said 2005 was the last time the Service requested for graduates and 500 people applied. Mr Ababio attributed the high number to the increase in the number of universities in the country, the unemployment situation in the country and job security in the civil service. He noted that the civil service was increasingly becoming attractive, following many policies including salary review, which serve as an amber of hope for the youth. Mr Ababio remarked that the civil service apparatus was determined to screen the system to ensure that only the best materials were identified for employment. A Deputy Director at the office of the Head of Civil Service, Ms Alberta Kwako, said those already in service also had training opportunities to improve on their skills. She explained that the service was in collaboration with both local training institutes and foreign ones to enable them collaborate effectively with the private sector. Though some of the applicants could not trace their names on the list, they were made to register and given separate arrangement to enable them write the paper because the officials were not sure as to when again the opportunity would come for another entry exams for intake of graduates into the Civil Service. Some of them described what they had to go through as stressful because the officials had to mention individual names for inspection of receipts and other requested documents. Source: Daily Graphic