The General Authority of Customs (GAC) in the State of Qatar, represented by Information Technology (IT) Department and Customs Training Center, has launched an online test system, aiming to automate tests through which the performance of GAC staffs and customs brokers affiliated with customs clearance companies in many customs areas and specialties is assessed.
Dr. Ahmed Bukarbal, Chief of curriculum and training impact assessment section, has said that the system has been established because of the need for a precise mechanism to conduct required tests in assessing staffs and ensure their preparedness and their knowledge of their work rules and duties as intended. He explained that IT Department was collaborated with in order to establish the system on outstanding technical basis accepting continued development, since the database of the online test system is fed with hundreds of questions and answers that are prepared by experts of the Customs Training Center.
He added that the system has been precisely tested so that it will be effective in the assessment process of targeted segments. The system has proved great potential to determine the level of staffs and customs brokers who are examinees, and among the most important features of the system is the random selection of questions from its database to ensure integrity when the distribution of questions among examinees, as he said.
Mr. Jumaah Mitib Al Nuaimi, Chief of customs brokers section at Customs Affairs Department, said that establishing the system has had an important role in conducting tests of customs brokers online after those tests had been conducted as paper-based tests over the past years. He noted the importance of these tests on which they are relied when verifying the extent of customs brokers understanding work rules and the quality of applying customs procedures and ensuring the best workflow, thus supporting the easy and smooth releases of goods at the State's ports of entry.
He pointed out that the customs brokers section has had an important and continuing role in feeding the system with data of customs clearance companies and names of customs brokers affiliated with each company.
Mr. Ali Jad, affiliated with IT Department, said that the system relies on modern technology in facilitating test process precisely and quickly, with being consistent with all computers and tablets. He explained that the system calculates start and end time and remaining time of test online, as well as calculating result immediately after finishing test, then reviewing result by specialists and sending texting messages providing results.
He added that the program is also marked by having the potential to prepare individual or total reports on tests in order to be helpful for a decision maker to know general level of examinees as well as strengths and weaknesses in accordance with customs fields listed in topics of tests.
Source: Government of Qatar