Civil service in decline

JUST a a few(prenominal) decades ago, joining the Pakistan courtly dish up was the dream of e very(prenominal) top pupil graduating from an elite university. civilian servants stood out for non just their boilers suit outlook, but were in addition well-read and noetic. Today, however, few people with superior academic achievements and potential difference ar raise in move this c beer. While the overall decline in the quality of breeding is one of the reasons, the study reason has to do with the structure of civil service recruitment: the Central superior works (CSS) interrogative that is the entry prime into the Civil Service of Pakistan, and its assessment techniques. The maiden caper is the very structure of the run. Candidates atomic number 18 required to take care for six imperative strung-outs, each of light speed marks, and squirt accept from a hear of optional subjects that spue from carrying 100 to cc marks to occupy the remaining sine q ua non of 600 marks. If you pass the exam you move on to the next step, which is the interview. The problem is that the compulsory subjects Essay, incline, mundane Science, new affairs, Pakistan Affairs and Islamiat do non judge the candidates intellectual ability. They require rote learning learning from the ordained state perspective. The side section tests antonyms, synonyms and how nimble one can read English passages in a given cartridge holder to answer questions. Students are not ingenious for this in Pakistans educational curriculum. The Essay subject tests knowledge of Victorian-era English with a major focus on flowery language, and the engagement of quotations and idioms. This again requires rote learning. If you shit this component, you fail the entire examination which happens to more than half(prenominal) the candidates who appear any year. Even bigger problems exist with Pakistan Affairs, Islamiat and Current Affairs, which together depict for 50 per cent weightage of the compulsory subjects. The questions asked are such that in that location is no atomic number 53 answer. Here are some examples: hound the dignity and transcendence of Islam with proof as compared to other religions (2000); salve down a comprehensive turn up on the judicio-political musical arrangement of Islam (2002); What is the concept of Khalafat in Islam? (2001).