No, thank you for reading the post. You made a few crucial observations; first, that the CSS exam should not be approached as a means to an end( the end being allocation and social status/prestige that comes with working as a civil servant), but rather, as you pointed out, as a means to edification and knowledge and self improvement. I cannot emphasis this enough. Secondly, the debate over responsibility over the dismal state of affairs is rather tricky, but I think, at the end of the day, the system has to take the larger blame for our collective intellectual degeneration. Ha, the reference to 'parts of speech' was funny, except that as Nikolai Gogol, the Russian short story writer, once said ,“The longer and more carefully we look at a funny story, the sadder it becomes.”

My subjects are International Relations, Political Science, European History and Constitutional Law. Good luck with the prep! Feel free to engage like this, one learns a lot through discussion, even if its on a forum. Good day!