I can imagine what it feels like when FPSC, contrary to our expectation, declares us a failure in English Essay and Composition. I have been twice a victim of the process itself. Many brilliant and intelligent minds have gone through this trauma, and it makes glaringly apparent that the Commission is badly in need of reforms. However, as far as Essay is concerned, I believe that objective standards of assessment cannot be easily applied to the script because a subjective piece of writing cannot be precisely marked. Therefore, in many parts of the world, an essay is graded rather than being scored.

Therefore, I have two suggestions, one for the the candidates who have been humbled by the CE-16 like me, and the other for the Commission.

Candidates : The only pragmatic solution would be to apply for re-checking or re-counting, because there is no other foreseeable way that would prompt the Commission to re-open your scripts.

Commission : The question paper must ask the candidates to write two or more than two essays, so that a candidate's language skills can be assessed on a variety of topics. It may be possible that a candidate is very brilliant, but cannot perform on a particular topic. Therefore, to get a holistic impression of a candidate's preparation, his/her writing needs to be assessed on multiple topics. This idea is currently being practiced by the Union Public Service Commission, the premier Human Resource Commission of Union of India.

My suggestions and expression is welcome to any criticism and any charge of bias !

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Desperate situations require desperate remedies "Lord Nelson" - British Flag Officer in the Royal Navy.