THE Civil Service Commission (CSC) said on Monday it has started a collaboration with the University of the Philippines (UP)-Diliman to develop a new Qualification Standards (QS) system. The initiative will modernize how government agencies will recruit, select, and develop talent, CSC Chairman Marilyn Yap said. “This would also signal a decisive move toward building a more agile, professional, and future-ready Philippine bureaucracy capable of meeting the evolving demands of governance,” she said. Yap said she and UP Diliman Chancellor Edgardo Carlo Vistan II signed the memorandum of agreement along with CSC Assistant Commissioner for Human Resource Governance Hiro Masuda, UP National College of Public Administration and Governance Dean Kristoffer Berse and Professorial Lecturer Ma. Oliva Domingo. “This initiative is a critical step in aligning the QS with the present and future demands of governance,” Yap said. It involves a comprehensive review of legal and regulatory frameworks on QS, benchmarking of Philippine standards against industry-leading practices and international models and performing a gap analysis to determine where existing QS no longer reflect actual competencies required in government jobs. Once completed, Yap said, the updated QS will provide a modern framework that guides agencies in assessing education, training, experience, and competencies. She said the upgrade is long overdue. For nearly three decades, the 1997 Qualification Standards Manual has served as the principal reference for government recruitment and promotion. Yet the public sector now operates in an era profoundly shaped by digital transformation and data-driven decision-making, Yap said. “These changes underscore the need for a more modern, competency-based framework that reflects the actual skills, behaviors, and expertise required in the public sector,” she said. The upgrade process will have six phases — three for occupational services that will be developed in Year I, and three for the 16 other occupational services in Years II and III.