Reference is made to the article ‘Public Service Commission lowers passing grade for senior principal positions, Ombudsman finds’ (March 27) and on timesofmalta.com (March 28).

For clarity’s sake, the process to select senior principals in the public service was initiated in January of last year and not, as alleged, during the “thick of the last general election campaign”.

Rest assured that the selection procedure for senior principals adhered very strictly to the current sectoral agreement between the government and trade unions, so much so that there were no issues about the process.

All applicants were treated equally and had the same venues of redress during the selection process.

The sectoral agreement specifically mentions that candidates are shortlisted for the interviewing session, on the basis of merit and after having successfully completed the general ability test, on a 1:1.5 to 1:2 ratio of available vacancies.

This was also specifically mirrored in the actual call for applications for the post of senior principal in the Malta public service (clause 6.2 of the selection procedure of the call).

It should also be highlighted that the lowering of the pass mark, with the explicit approval of the Public Service Commission, was necessitated to be in line with these parameters. Indeed, 87 successful candidates in the general ability test did not satisfy this set ratio.

All candidates were informed about the realignment of marks upon publication of the result.

The call itself pointed out that the mark candidates obtain in the general ability test is to be “proportionately reflected in the marks assigned for the interview, with a specific criterion established for each purpose”.

The crucial point that the correspondent apparently failed to comprehend is that the marks awarded to a candidate for the general ability test are but a fraction of the total marks awarded for the related criteria in the whole selection process.