Exploring the Assessor's Competency in Selecting the Participant for the International Youth Exchange Program in Malaysia

Abstract

In the selection process, the competency of the assessor is vital. Competency reflects someone's quality or state of having sufficient knowledge, judgment, skill, or strength for a particular duty or respect. Undoubtedly, incompetency of the evaluation also happens when the assessors are beyond their professional capacity as assessors. When this situation happens, it will lead to the influence of personal judgments. To explore the influence of the selection process, the objective of this study is to determine the competency of the assessor in the decision-making process during the recruitment to select the candidate to represent Malaysia in the International Youth Exchange Program. The qualitative research method was chosen to conduct this study. Data was collected through an in-depth interview with five former assessors from the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the association's former assessor. Since Malaysia is under Movement Control Order, the interview was conducted via an online platform like Google Meet. The study found that the assessors were found to be competent as assessors. There is no element of gender discrimination that happened during the selection process. However, the credibility of the assessor from the NGOs is doubted. They are exposed to the conflict of interest of those they politically know from their association. As for the recommendation, it is sensible to propose the competency model for the assessor, part of the personnel who will play a significant role in ensuring the selection of the participants. A new persona description has been made based on the assessor's interpretation to select the youth to represent Malaysia.   Dalam proses pemilihan peserta di dalam sesebuah program, kecekapan penilai adalah penting. Kecekapan mencerminkan kualiti atau keadaan seseorang yang mempunyai pengetahuan, pertimbangan, kemahiran atau kekuatan yang mencukupi untuk menggalas tugas mahupun penghormatan tertentu. Tidak dinafikan, ketidakcekapan penilaian juga berlaku apabila penilai berada di luar kapasiti profesional mereka sebagai penilai. Apabila keadaan ini berlaku, ia akan membawa kepada pengaruh pertimbangan peribadi. Objektif kajian ini adalah untuk menyelidiki kecekapan penilai dalam proses membuat keputusan semasa proses penilaian untuk memilih calon yang akan mewakili Malaysia dalam Program Pertukaran Belia Antarabangsa. Kaedah kajian kualitatif telah dipilih untuk kajian ini. Data dikumpul melalui temu bual mendalam dengan lima bekas penilai Kementerian Belia dan Sukan dan bekas penilai daripada persatuan belia di Malaysia. Memandangkan Malaysia berada di bawah Perintah Kawalan Pergerakan, temu bual dijalankan melalui platform dalam talian seperti Google Meet. Secara keseluruhan, hasil kajian mendapati para penilai adalah cekap dalam mengendalikan tugas sebagai penilai. Tiada unsur diskriminasi jantina yang berlaku semasa proses pemilihan. Namun, kredibiliti penilai daripada Pertubuhan Bukan Kerajaan (NGO) adalah diragui. Hal ini kerana mereka terdedah kepada percanggahan kepentingan terhadap calon yang mereka kenali secara politik daripada persatuan mereka. Cadangan kajian ini adalah wajar untuk Kementerian Belia dan Sukan membuat satu garis panduan atau rubrik kecekapan untuk memilih penilai kerana mereka akan memainkan peranan penting dalam memastikan pemilihan peserta yang berkualiti untuk mewakili Malaysia.