1.   If the policy regarding former employees is supposed to help the company hire the best applicants, it may be falling short.

2.   Two years ago it added a competitive middle school, the Crown School for Law and Journalism, which admits the best applicants from the same neighborhood.

3.   With police forces across the country expanding, experts said, departments should not add criteria that make it harder to attract the best applicants.

4.   An Education Ministry spokesman denied that selection was biased, saying the ministry chose the best applicants.

5.   That task is handled by a second agency, which would keep the data confidential until a pool of the best applicants is identified.