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Old Sunday, January 08, 2017
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Default Observations on Performance of Candidates in Written Part of CSS Examination 2015


Examiner’s Report
Examination : C.S.S-2015

I. Compulsory Subjects


A. Essay:-The overall performance in ESSAY paper is not satisfactory. There were a number of areas which were overlooked by the candidates. As a result, candidates were not able to score satisfactory/pass marks. These areas are listed below:

1. The weakest part in majority of the papers was candidates’ inability to grasp the crux of any topic. Each topic was based on some argument which in turn required candidates to explore the relation of two major variables/aspects clearly stated in the topic. The candidates delineated only on one aspect while the other aspect was either insufficiently explored or completely ignored. As a result, the main argument was inadequately focused, presented and discussed. For example, the topic “The war on terror has contributed to the growing abuse of human rights” (attempted by majority of the candidates) requires exploration of abuse of human rights in relation to War on Terror, however, the candidates have discussed in great detail the causes, types, effects (in general) and remedies related to War on Terror only. Abuse of human rights either in general or very briefly presented. The main argument, therefore, does not develop satisfactorily and loses its relevance and significance. Since argumentation is the most important criterion to be taken into consideration, no amount of deliberation which does not relate to the argument will be considered worthy of any credit.

2. Any argument, no matter how strong, needs sufficient support to establish its strength and validity. The candidates provided a number of arguments (quite relevant at times) but were not able to provide sufficient support.

3. This misconception and lack of clarity regarding topic leads to framing of outline which is not well developed or relevant. Besides, there is great tendency in candidates to develop lengthy outlines with very little relevant material. An outline which is relevant, crisp and succinct would be the best choice.

4. It has also been observed that outlines are quite relevant and extensive, but they are not well organized. This irregularity in maintaining strong organizational pattern is observed in essays as well. Organization is a key factor in developing and presenting an argument and must be taken into account.

5. Structural and spelling mistakes are in abundance. At times the sentence structures are extremely weak. This weak expression is further combined with poor vocabulary. In some cases abusive language is also used. A fairly good expression should be considered highly important for such competitive exams.

6. One very important consideration is of word limit. Few candidates reach this limit which also becomes one chief contributing factor to low pas percentage in this paper. However, it is unfortunate that those who qualify this criterion often lose focus on relevance. They tend to achieve the given target by unnecessarily prolonging the discussion. This trend needs to be discouraged as the line between what is relevant and what is not, is very clear.

B. English(P&C):- In terms of the way candidates approached the answering of questions there were four common weaknesses. The first concerned questions 2 and 4, where the word limits were often not adhered to. The second weakness concerned question 3 where words (and sometimes whole paragraphs) were lifted from the comprehension piece. The third weakness concerned question 5 and 6, which revealed a surprising gap in candidates’ knowledge of idioms and Basic English grammar. The fourth weakness was that candidates did not follow the instructions in the questions carefully. The time factor did not appear to be an issue with comparatively few unanswered or partially answered questions.
Question 2
This question called for a condensation of the text by a 1/3 and the suggestion of an appropriate title. Common errors among candidates were: providing extra textual information, and exerting their own opinion on the text.
Question 3
(i) Typically candidates defined the underlined phrases but not in the context of the passage as the question states.

(ii) Candidates on the whole recognized that the author supported the scientific method due to it being logical (based on facts and experimentation); however many failed to add that these facts are then published and open to scrutiny, and often conclusions are revised.

(iii) and (iv) Many candidates failed to distinguish between the two sub questions, often repeating ideas.

(iv) Generally a pleasing response. Almost all candidates understood that the question required direct comparison between intuitive judgment and scientific decision, for which both terms would have to be defined.

Question 4
The topic ‘Education should be for life not for livelihood’ was extremely most popular; however, candidates failed to give a balanced response where both sides of the topic where addressed’ and thus many struggled to access higher marks for evaluation and analysis.

Question 5
(a) This response did not elicit the required answer from a huge number of candidates. The key reason was a clear lack of knowledge regarding the meaning of English idioms and their appropriate usage.

(b) Many candidates ignored the question, which asked for definitions of the words to show their distinction. The most common outcome was candidates being awarded the mark if their sentences showed they understood the meanings of the words.

Question 6
(a)Candidates generally failed to identify which part of the sentence required amending and even when discerned corrections were largely inaccurate.

(b) This was in the main handled well by candidates; although’ a significant minority seems unaware that the verb ‘cried’ can also mean to call loudly, this led to some erroneous and humorous responses from candidates in their translations.

C.GK-II (Current Affairs):-The overall performance of the candidates was satisfactory if we compare the result in hand with some previous years otherwise I do not consider it pleasing. More than 60 per cent candidates took the test without preparation. Among 40 percent who somehow prepared for the exam mostly follow the instruction they might have received from various CSS academies as their approach to attempt the question and the contents they presented were similar. Hardly five percent contestants used their own mind and methodology to respond to the questions.

Specific deficiencies, other than knowledge of the subject, are mostly related to the English language and expression weaknesses, because most of the candidates’ schooling seems poor. But I do not argue that this problem could be overcome by relaxing the English language as medium of communication rather it can be solved by improving the quality of English teaching at school and college levels.

Generally, candidates were hesitant to attempt question No.2 and 5; most of them who have attempted answered them without comprehending them properly. Similar was the situation relating to question No.3 and 8; most of the candidates attempted half part of the questions. For example, majority of the candidates failed to highlight role of education in character-building and no critical evaluation of the counter-terrorism policy of Pakistan was offered. Our academic institutions are producing angry young lot whose approach is to accuse others and the system but they do not use mind to critically evaluate the dynamics of the phenomenon.

The recent revision of syllabus might be helpful to reduce some of the problems highlighted above but security studies and strategic studies have not been recognized as distinct subjects so far, despite the fact that thousands have earned the specific degree and interest among the fresh graduate is rising every passing year.

D. Islamiat:-- Most of the candidates have failed to prove their point of view about the very common topics of Islamic Studies.

- Most of the candidates have put no analytical approach towards the questions in general, & specifically question No.4. & Q.N0.7 required a special critical approach which was not present in most of the answer sheets.

- Hence overall standard of the papers could not be called satisfactory anyway.

- FPSC should manage to get prepared special books from the scholars of highest knowledge from different universities. These books should have written with analytical approach.

- Topics of Islamic studies having applied nature towards the burning issues of the society should be added to the syllabus.

II . Optional Subjects


(i).Accountancy and Auditing, Paper-I:-The standard of paper was up to the level of graduate. However the majority of the candidate attempted the problems, few of them also concerned over the theoretical proportion, but generally the candidate having less concern over the specific required answers. However over all standard is satisfactory.

(ii). Accountancy & Auditing-Paper-II:-In overall picture, candidates exhibited fairly decent grasp on the subject. The candidates proved to be well prepared, specially, in Accounting and Income Tax Section as compared to an occasional exhibition of shallow knowledge in areas of Auditing and General Business knowledge.

(iii).Agriculture:-The general performance of the fellows appearing in this subject has been medium grade. The students have pooled the knowledge without understanding the questions that have been asked.

A few have critically answered the questions and for that they have been rewarded. There has been general understanding that candidates do not undergo through the course out line of the subject and are thus unable to answer the questions No.2. And 7 have overall poorly been attempted.

The spectrum of answering questions in a rationale way is also lacking in most of the scripts. It is there fore strongly recommended that the candidates should appear in this exam after good preparation rather than loosing the firs chance for experience sake.

(iv).Applied Maths, Paper-I:- Overall result of Applied Mathematics-I is not satisfactory. Only 30% students have got through while 70% students have failed. Moreover, 55% of the failed students either got single digit or zero marks.
I think the reasons for such result are:
1. Non serious attitude of the students
2. Lack of proper preparation
3. Semester system in Universities /Colleges
4. Internal evaluation system

To make up such deficiency, I suggest that the semester system may please be discouraged for quality education. Furthermore, external evaluation system should be observed along with internal evaluation for unbiased and fair results.

(v).Applied Maths, Paper-II:- It seems that there were several candidates who appeared without any preparation in the exam. Others did relatively well. The paper was by no means difficult.

(vi).Arabic, Paper-I:-The Answer books of CSS candidates for Exam-2015 were sent to me for evaluation. While evaluating/marking the said answer books, I knew that that majority of candidates were not serious in the preparation of the subject. They took examination without proper preparation.

The candidates had a poor understanding of literacy sense, criticism and appreciation. I found them weak in syntax and eloquence.

They were not bad in attempting short answers but where they were demanded to answer in details, they failed to do so well properly.

However, some answer books were found up to the mark. I think their understanding of the subject is according to the required standard.

(vii).Balochi:- The Candidates of Balochi CSS Competitive Examinations gave all the answers to the point. Candidates gave all the answers and secured full marks that of the grammar part in paper. The sentence making and vocabulary was also up to the marks. Candidates have keen knowledge in the subject of Balochi.

(viii).Botany, Paper-II:-Overall performance of the candidates is satisfactory. Understanding of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology seems to be weak, which was evident by the way Q.No.4 and Q.No.5 was attempted.

(ix).British History Paper-II:- With the declining standard of education in colleges and universities, the performance of candidates in the CSS Examination has been adversely affected. British History as a discipline is not offered in many institutions of higher learning hence the local text books have not been written. Similarly the Teacher/ Professors are in Short Supply to teach British History.

It is important that the teachers should be trained to teach the discipline of British History and students should have wider choice of books on the subject.

(x).CHEMISTRY, PAPER-I:- As per requirement candidates select some subjects (optional) along with compulsory subjects for CSS examination. In my opinion candidate select optional subject due to their specialization or good knowledge. I experienced & faced different situation at the time of marking the answer sheets. The question paper was set from the given syllabus according to the guideline/instructions.

My comments are:
i) Majority of the candidates did not have the knowledge and concept of Chemistry. So most of the candidate could not understand even very simple questions. Less than 5% were able to write few lines for logical questions.

ii) They were non-serious in attempting the questions for such a prestigious examination i.e. CSS examinations.

iii) It seems that our system of education is not producing the stuff we need.

Conclusions:
i) Our education system becomes quantitative which is supported by policies and implementation at graduate to postgraduate level.

ii) If serious step are not taken then our system of education may collapse.

iii) We must act now to save our system and becomes very SELECTIVE, go for QUALITY at least at specialized level.

iv) Our country needs this overhauling and deserve quality at local and international level.

v) Teacher’s training, learning facility and laboratories needs improvement along with up gradation of class rooms are must with no political disturbance/interference from out side are key steps for the said goal. Can we do these steps?

(xi).Constitutional law:- After having examined 619 scripts in the subject of constitutional law, the following observations are placed for your kind perusal:

1. Out of 619 scripts examined, 140 candidates obtained marks up to 32%; 231 candidates could secure between 33% to 43 % marks while 170 candidates managed to obtain marks in the range 44 % to 59 %. No candidate could get marks in the 60 % to 64% range. It was noticed with an unpleasant surprise that only 01 candidate was able to earn marks in the range of 65 % to 79 % whereas none of the candidate could get marks in the category 80% upwards.

2. It is noticed with concern that the result turns out to be poor and is reflective of and unsatisfactory quality keeping in view the desirable results for CSS examinations. This state of affairs is alarming for the education standards on part of graduates in this specific area.

3. It is also observable that candidates appearing for the important examinations of CSS come for examination unprepared as most of them have shown poor performance with regard to their conception of the Constitutional Law.

4. It is strongly recommended that the experts and psychologists of the CSS examinations management may devise some practicable strategy for the candidates so that they come for examination well-prepared, with sound understanding of the constitutional law and related knowledge in the subject of political science.

(xii).ENGLISH LITERATURE:- Two hundred and forty six candidates attempted the question paper of English Literature (II). The subjective part of the question paper contained two sections and students were instructed to attempt at least tow questions from each section, thus attempting four questions in all. Most of the candidates attempted four questions. However some attempted only three questions.

The answers written by the candidates reflect their knowledge of the literary works as well as their command over English language. The common errors of language made by the candidates include.
I. Discrepancy in subject and verb
II. Inappropriate prepositions
III. Inappropriately places articles
IV. Incorrect spellings
V. Lack of punctuation
VI. Switching of verbs
These errors often occur due to literal translation. The candidate thinks in Urdu or some regional language and translates his or her thoughts into English. This tendency results in grammatical errors. Besides literal translation produces confused expression and the reader finds it difficult to understand the candidate’s point of view.

In addition to the faulty language produced by the candidates while attempting the paper another problem appears frequently and that is inability to organize and present ideas. Most of the candidates cannot identify the ideas they need to express and tend to produce irrelevant details. Moreover they fail to explain a single idea in detail and support their stance with some substantial proof. This problem reflects lack of practice of writing and particularly essay writing in English.

Essay writing also requires a thorough knowledge of the subject attempted by the candidate. Unfortunately most of the candidates who attempted the question paper of English literature did not have enough knowledge of the subject matter which could enable them to produce a sound explanation. The answers produced by the candidates reflect the fact that they had not read the literary works they were discussing. Some candidates had done cursory reading but could not express themselves effectively. The relied on producing summaries of some significant events of the literary works in question by failed to refer to the thesis of discussion. A detailed explanation of the problems of candidates while attempting each of the questions included in the question paper is given below.

Question Two required comparison of the madness feigned by Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Thomas Kyd’s Hieronimo in the Spanish Tragedy. The candidates were expected to have read both the plays. However only one candidate seemed to have read the two plays and could compare the two characters with reference to their fake madness. Some other candidates who had not read the play the Spanish Tragedy were familiar with the plot and characters and could compare the two characters. However most of the candidates relied upon reproduction of the plot of Hamlet and some explanation of Hamlet’s plan to take revenge. Since their answer did not take into account the thesis of the discussion these candidates could not score well.

Question three was about the Shaw’s play Pygmalion. Most of the candidates seemed to have read the play and were also familiar with the myth of Pygmalion. Despite this knowledge most of the candidates failed to justify Shaw’s choice of the title because they could not compare and contrast the two stories. The ideas expressed by the candidates did not synthesize and formed effective explanation.

Question Four was the attempted by majority of candidates. It required the candidates to give reasons for Swift’s making Gulliver travel to the lands of pygmies and that of giants. A common tendency quite observable in the answers was production of the summaries of the two voyages of Gulliver. Few candidates bothered to give reasons for Swift’s deliberate attempt of making his central character travel to two different lands. Most of the answers were replete with unnecessary and wrong quotations from the text of Gulliver’s Travels.

Question Five required the candidate to discuss the role of the journeys made by the central characters of the novel Pride and Prejudice. This could be done provided the candidates had thoroughly read the novel and were familiar with the various journeys made by the characters and their consequences on the plot. Few candidates managed to produce the required answer. Most answers included the character sketches of the central (and other) characters or discussion about the themes of the novel. Hence their answers were irrelevant and did not enable them to get marks for their efforts.

Question Six was a statement declaring the opinion that W.B. Yeats ‘kept one foot in Ireland’. It was a metaphorical expression and required the candidates to prove that Yeats’ poetry contained several references to Ireland. The answers however indicated the limited reading of the candidates. Very few managed to refer to those poems of Yeats which were about Ireland. Most candidates produced explanation of two poems the Second Coming and Sailing to Byzantium. Unfortunately neither poem referred to Ireland. Consequently the lengthy explanations remained irrelevant to the thesis of discussion.

Question Seven referred to the literary movement of Modernism and its reflection in T.S Eliot’s poetry. Though just few but still some candidates treated T.S Eliot and George Eliot as the same person. Most of the candidates did not have any idea about the characteristics of Modernism and interpreted it as a term referring to modern man. Their answers were explanation of the interpretations of Eliot’s poems the Wasteland, The Hollow Men and The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. Some candidates mentioned Eliot’s views about the phenomena of ‘objective co-relative’. However these explanations were quite irrelevant. These tendencies indicate limited reading of candidates and their ignorance about the literary theories.

Question Eight was about the reasons of failure of D.H. Lawrence’s character Paul Morel in the novel Sons and Lovers. Not many candidates attempted this question. Those who attempted it mostly reproduced the summary of the plot of novel. The answer required the candidate to take a clear stance about the position of Paul. However most answers did not contain a clear stance probably because the writers had not read the novel but relied upon the notes they had read about various aspects of the text.

Concluding the discussion it strongly recommended that candidates should be advised to do extensive reading. Moreover they should practice writing argumentative and expository essays. Instead of reproducing summaries of different literary works and unnecessary information about their creators the candidates should focus on interpretation of the questions being asked and only write the relevant answers. The tendency to produce quotations from the text also cause loss of marks because the lengthy quotes are often wrong and they halt the flow of ideas thus leading to confused expression.

(xiii)EUROPEAN HISTORY, PAPER-I :- European history is an interesting subject. But the tragedy with our students is that they do not work hard to understand the subject. Rare are the students who replied the questions put in the paper which required insight in the subject e.g. as in Qs. No.2 & 7 in the paper.

Further, there are straight questions like 4, 5, 6 & 8 but the answers are not satisfactory. I think that the student’s idea is that examiners do not check the papers but measure the answers.

Social sciences as a whole lost interest amongst students, whereas these subjects are taught in European Institutions in open minded with critical approach.

(xiv).European History Paper-II:- This year the Paper-II of the European history has been better in pass percentage; and the standard of answers have improved. Although, the number of candidates who have opted for European History has declined, but the performance showed better results.

(xv).Geography Paper-I:- Following are my observations regarding the geography- Paper A of the CSS examination 2015.

(i) It is very difficult for the candidates to qualify the standard set by the Commission in the instructions for CSS competitive examination. The marking of the scripts reveal that only few candidates possess some knowledge of the subject. It is very unfortunate to say that reading has no place in our education or examination system. Usually poor text material is used to get through the examination. I do not think that in case of geography, the candidates will be able to utilize the knowledge with reference to given situation and can produce ideas and utilize them.

(ii) The 351 2 scripts that i have marked , 1101 candidates have obtained less than 26 out of 80 marks, while only 128 candidates have obtained 60 or above 60 marks out of 80 (above 75%). It seems that majority of the candidates are not serious about their paper. They are not able to write correct English. Grammatical and spelling mistakes are common.

(iii) Majority of the candidates do not know how to attempt the paper in logical sequence. There are no titles, sub-titles, diagrams where they are needed or very poor diagrams or sketches. In some cases the candidates forget to write the question or the number of the question that he/she has attempted. It makes problems to mark or evaluate the paper.

(iv) Bad hand-writing is another important issue. In some cases it is not legible making it difficult or rather impossible to evaluate the paper. It reflects the lack of practice in wring.

(v) In view of the above mentioned observations I am not satisfied with the performance of the candidates in geography-A of the CSS examination 2015. Some of the candidates are wasting their time and resources by setting in the examination.

2. I think that some mechanism must be developed by the commission to allow only those candidates to set in the examination who are really serious with some background in geography.

(xvi)Geography Paper-II :- It has been my pleasure to evaluate 3492 scripts in the subject of Geography paper II for the Competitive Examination, 2015. Out of the total scripts marked by the undersigned, only THREE of the candidates are found in the category above 80 percent of the marks. However, ELEVEN candidates have acquired 80 percent of total marks. NINETY EIGHT candidates fall between 75 to 79 percent marks. While 1565 were found between 60 to 74 percent of the marks and reckoned good in their performance. The candidates with less than 40 percent of the total marks were 325 in number.

Majority of the candidates (44.8%) have shown satisfactory performance.
Similarly, the percentage of the total candidates that fall in the categories of marks between 41 to 59 percent and those who remained below the passing mark turned out to be 42.7 and 9.3 percent respectively.
Majority of the candidates have attempted question no.2,3,4,5,7 and 8 and narrated the answers in a standard sequence with analytical approach. The least attempted question was no.6 and only a handful of candidates chose to attempt it (14 out of 3492). A few candidates have used illustrations in support to their answers, particularly in question no.2 and 4 while few have used poetic compositions and verses in their answers, which were deemed futile. It has also been noticed that the candidates do not have a clear idea of South Asia as a region and its constituting countries. Moreover, they cannot distinguish between minerals and energy resources that were asked in question no.8 part-A. However, most of the candidates were to the point in their approach while majority of them used the map outlines to supplement the answers, which is commendable. Since maps are a very important tool for an effective planning and administration therefore, the future CSPs should be and they are well aware of the outline maps of Pakistan as well as the World. In addition to this, I would still like to advise the candidates to consult “Atlas of Pakistan” published by the Survey of Pakistan, Rawalpindi as well as the “Times World Atlas” for spatial distribution of socio-cultural phenomenon. It is further recommended that geography teachers should use wall maps to depict various human activities; both in time and space.

(xvii).HISTORY OF PAKISTAN & INDIA, PAPER-I :- I have gone through more than three thousand papers. Overall the performance of the candidates is good. Some are exceptionally good, majority do. However, as a teacher of History of Modern South Asia, I have more suggestions to improve the standard further:

i) The students in colleges and Universities should be encouraged to understand the topic and ask as many questions as possible from the teachers. This will enable them to rely less on low-standard books, easily available in the markets for the preparation of competitive examinations.

ii) More emphasis be given on English Language. Local teams and phrases other than English language should not be allowed in the main text.

iii) The students should be encouraged to read books on the subject rather than to ask for notes and other ready availably material for exam. Preparation.

iv) In some cases candidates tried to cheat/befool the examiner by citing questions repeatedly and in one particular case the candidate has mislead the examiner by writing in roman Urdu. They should be punished for that.


(xvii).History of Pakistan and India, Paper-II :- I have had the experience of marking papers in the subject of Indian History in the past and the performance of the candidates has deteriorated to a great extent this year. However, some candidates have performed relatively better but their number is insignificant.

As far as their strength and weaknesses are concerned, the strength of those who performed well seems to be their power of memorization as they have been tuned to this mode of preparation for examination over the years. Their weaknesses are many but the most common and chronic weakness is their inability to express themselves appropriately and satisfactorily in English. As most candidates lack the knowledge of the very basics of language and grammar, they tend to use difficult words, at times not even knowing the meaning of those words, to impress the evaluators. Power of analysis is lacking as our educational institutions focus only on chronological details and not on analysis.

Other than that, the main deficiency in most answers is the lack of arrangement, sequence and proper flow of thought. Apart from this the deficiency in English language make them use more words to express themselves which increases the length of their answers and leaves them with lesser time for the questions attempted last. In many papers, the first two questions are the best attempted questions but the insufficient length and inadequate answers to the last two questions reduce their marks considerably. The candidates must know appropriation of time limit for each question and their proper utilization of the available time.

In the paper, the questions which required analysis rather than mere narration of facts are the most poorly attempted. This is because of the problems that have already been identified above.

Overall, a comprehensive and concerted effort is needed to overhaul the education system at the school level, focusing on the standard of the teaching of English language and particularly address in the problems related to vocabulary and grammar.

(xviii).History of USA:-The overall standard of the scripts was very low. There are two glaring problems.
1. Issue of substance
2. Time management
1. Students should be clear that History of U.S.A. is consisted of 5 components: history, politics, foreign policy,pol. economy and intellectual history of the USA. Syllabus given by commission is quite overlapping. It should be edited under above mentioned heads. Then they would be able to select right substance from prescribed books, not from guides.

2. Time management is a big issue. Most of the students who successfully attempted first 2 questions, collapsed in the last two. Apart from these problems, expression, presentation and spellings of the candidates are very weak.

(xix).International Law:- I have the honour to set a paper for International Law and marked 2566 (Two thousand five hundred and sixty six) Answers Sheets of the FPSC Competitive Examination 2015. During the evaluation of these answer sheets of the candidates I observed as under:

a. The organization’s secrecy and process of sending answer sheets to the examiners and collecting back the results of FPSC is outstanding and completely organized.

b. These answer sheets were delivered to the undersigned in completely sealed and the detailed instructions regarding the evaluation of the answer sheets were attached. Confidential Roll Numbers were properly marked both on the Answer Sheets and the Award List. The answer sheets were packed properly with sequence of Confidential Roll Numbers and it helped me to mark the answer sheets in an organized way with the same yard stick.

c. The answers of the candidates on the answer sheets were varied. Some of the answers were excellent. The majority of answer sheets were middle level varying between fair and good.

d. Some of the candidates did not take this exam seriously and just entered in this exam without proper preparation.

e. The candidates who were able to obtained good marks were fully prepared with the syllabus and came up with appropriate answers. Their answers helped the examiner to reach at the conclusion of merits of these candidates. The majority of the candidates tried to attempt this exam without serious preparation. From their answers it appeared that they were not prepared seriously for this examination.

f. A Few candidates appeared in the exam without any preparation. They just came to sit in the exam for wasting their time and energy aimlessly.

g. It also appeared from the answers sheets that majority of the candidates prepared from the guide books. This was evident from their answers that in many cases were similar to each other. It would have been better instead of the guide books the candidates would have studied the original recommended sources.

(xx).ISLAMIC HISTORY AND CULTURE, PAPER-I:-The general performance of the candidates was not so good. One or two candidates out of hundred were of the required standard.

The strength of the candidates reflects in their studies buy they are very much weak in submitting their knowledge in a proper way and language. Most of the candidates are very poor in English. As a result they could not express their views properly.

Q.No.5, which was about advent of Islam in Western Asia, was not proper attempted because most the candidates were unaware from western Asia. Similarly question about Muslim civilization in Spain was misunderstood because the candidates were not clear about the civilization.

99% candidates were very weak in quoting verses of the Holy Quran and ahadith.

Difference between Jihad and Terrorism was a common question but the candidates were not able to differentiate these two items in the light of the Quran.

(xxi).ISLAMIC HISTORY & CULTURE, PAPER-II :- Questions 2 and 5 are the most attempted. Quality of answers however indicates superficial knowledge of the candidates. Question No.8 is the least attempted. Overall standard of the answers reveal that the probationers have not touched the original sources of the subject. The reason may perhaps be that our nation does not take interest in Arabic & wholly solely depends upon English sources which at time may be wrong.

(xxii).MERCANTILE LAW:- I have observed that candidates have good knowledge about contract Act. However, almost all the candidates were confused about Q.No. 4 pertaining to registration of a firm. Most of them do not know distinction between a firm and a company i-e the companies Ordinance 1984 dealing with companies and partnership Act-1932 dealing with firms. Similarly, Q.No. 3 pertaining to the “Notice of Dishonor” under the negotiable instruments Act was not attempted very well. I suggest that special emphasis must be laid down during training of successful candidates on the destruction between a company and a firm and the relevant statutes. Moreover, they should also be trained about the procedures pertaining to negotiable instruments under the negotiable instruments Act.

(xxiii).MUSLIM LAW & JURISPRUDENCE:- After evaluating 997 answer books I was shocked to see the poor standard of answer because of following reasons.
1. Most of the candidates failed to understand the question asked for.

2. Instead of answering the question to the point they resorted to unnecessary and irrelevant details.

3. For example in Question No. 3 only one section i.e. 4 was involved but the candidates embarked upon whole section of Muslim family laws ordinance 1961.

4. Majority of the candidates English was too poor hence they seemed to have failed to express answers properly.

5. It is suggested that there should be minimum eligibly criteria for the candidates appearing in CSS exam.

6. In some cases it appeared that some of the candidates set in CSS exam just for fun and left the answer sheets blank.

7. In some cases the candidates instead of answering the questions dictated them verbatim on the answer sheets.

8. Finally there is a need to review the Islamic law syllabus.

(xxiv).Persian Paper-I:- On examining the CSS Persian paper it appeared that students do not know Persian literature, their knowledge about history of Persian literature is not up to the mark just because of this many students thought that “sub-k-e-khurasani” is a person name, so they tried to write his life history.

Also their grammar is not good majority of the students wrote grammatically incorrect sentences. They use Persian words which doesn’t make any sense. Sot they are meaningless sentences.

Even some students do not able to understand the questions. Due to this reason their answers does not match with the questions. Many of the students do not know how to express their views or their thoughts? Writing style of a few students is a mixture of Hindi, urdu, Panjabi, Pashtu and Persian.

There are also a few students which do not attempted the paper in Persian language because of it they do not get any marks. Standard of majority students is below average, lack of knowledge is observed which shows that they do not have habit of reading books except their course.

(xxv).PERSIAN PAPER-II:-While checking Answer Books of Persian-II, I came across few points that are as under:-

1. Although it is clearly instructed in Q. Paper and Answer Book to Write Q.No. in accordance with Q. No. as mentioned in the Q. Paper, but still some candidates did not follow the rule or did not read the instruction carefully.

2. As per instruction of Answer Book, space must be left between the two answers, but some candidates overlooked it and did not leave proper space.

3. Candidates must avoid irrelevant details while answering. Answering. Answers should be precise and to the point. Candidate should emphasize on the quality, not quantity. Candidate must cover all aspects while answering the question, i.e. if a poetic verse contains a Ward “KHODI” or “ISHQ”, the candidate focused only on a single ward and ignored the rest of the verses or stanza and has given unnecessary explanation, which compromises the quality of material. Hence the candidate should focus on the quality and answer every question according to its requirement.

4. Question No. 4 & 5 were required to be answered in Persian language, but some candidates attempted these questions in English or Urdu.

5. Some candidates tried to show cleverness and copied Persian Text of the question paper instead of answering Q. No.4 & 5 in question.

6. Mostly candidates could not attempt Q. No. 4 & 5 in Persian properly. It means that they have no knowledge of Persian and have not learned Persian language.

7. Lastly, I would like to propose that the minimum qualification of candidate for participation in the CSS Examination should be revised as BS/MA or equivalent, i.e. sixteen (16) years education instead of 14 years.

(xxvi).PHILOSOPHY PAPER-II:- The general performance of the candidates has not been satisfactory at all. The most glaring and common deficiency of the candidates is their in ability to understand the nature of the question. Hence their answers are not in accordance with what has been asked in the question concerned. This criticism is not true of all the candidates. Some scripts were really very good and I fully appreciate them.

The second point I have observed while evaluating their scripts is that candidates do not make proper preparation this, to a certain degree, reflects also the weakness of the process of imparting knowledge to the students by our academic institutions.

The third point is about the language barrier. Most of the students do not find themselves in a position the express their thoughts freely and creatively in English. Not to speak of English, their proficiency in urdu language is doubtful. For example, most of the students have committed mistakes in quoting urdu verses of Iqbal while attempting Q.NO. VI of this paper I think our students are not entirely to blame. This is a very big and serious question mark for our entire educational system.

(xxvii).Physics, Paper-II:-The general performance of majority of the candidates was extremely poor. A total of 336 candidates appeared in Physics Paper-II. 20 candidates did not get any score. Eighty-nine percent (299 out of 336) candidates scored less than 40 marks i.e. 50 percent. Very few candidates (37 out of 336 or 11 percent) scored more than 50 percent marks. Among these only the performance of four candidates can be regarded as outstanding.

Majority of the candidates lacked a clear and thorough understanding in the subject of Physics and the level of understanding was not beyond the intermediate/ F.Sc. level. It seems as if they have never studied/ consulted any calculus-based standard textbook appropriate to graduate/ CSS level. The present examination was taken without any proper, systematic and serious preparation.

Majority of the candidates attempted questions very poor and this was not restricted to any particular question. They failed to understand the exact theme and nature of the question. The answers were based on memorization rather than the understanding of the subject. It was interesting to note that irrelevant answer (within contents of syllabus outline) was written in response to a question that had not been asked. This is all due to lack of understanding of the subject and not reading/ consulting standard textbooks. Notes can never be a substitute for a standard textbook. The familiarization with S.I. units is essential and more practice is needed in numerical problem solving techniques. The candidates can improve their by dedicated study/ consultation of standard and recent international books appropriate to CSS examination level and they should not rely upon ready-made substandard notes. Notes can never be a substitute for a standard textbook.

There is an urgent need to revise the existing CSS syllabus in the subject or Physics on priority basis to bring it at par with current undergraduate syllabi or different universities of Pakistan and with one proposed by Higher Education Commission. A list of books meant for further reading is enclosed with this report.

(xxviii).Political Science Paper-II:- Please find herewith brief report regarding standard attained by the candidates:-
1. Concept was not clear by the candidates.
2. Writing of candidates was poor.
3. Written material/answers were irrelevant in general.
(xxix).Psychology Paper-II:-A variety in answer formats is observed depicting various types of preparation strategies for the exam. Several of the examinees responses indicate ratification of some sort of filtered material with least conceptual understanding. Responses of other examinees consisting irrelevant answers and showing a non-serious attitude with probably little or no preparation at all. Some of the candidates with no reading and exposure to the referred literature, also tried to present their own understanding of concepts which appeared to have nothing to do with actual concepts of the subject. Overall a lack of reading habits is observed which in my opinion shall be a core characteristic of candidates appearing in Competitive examination.

To improve reading habits of Candidates, I recommend modification in referred literature. The referred books shall include latest editions which are easily available in local market. This way candidates reliance on notes and guides can be minimized. Further reading habits of candidates may be improved by incorporating some national and international research journals as source of referred material. For instance for the exam to be conducted in 2016, all issues of PJPR published in 2015 becomes part of course work. Incorporating research journals will automatically discourage reliance on notes and guides as every year new issues of journals are published constituting recent trends and developments in the subject. Material published in previous issues of journals becomes irrelevant for each next year and hence notes or guides prepared in previous year become irrelevant for next year. This may change candidates attitude toward reading extensively and in diversity rather relying on notes, guides and filtered material. I recommend to select some of the HEC recognized APA journals for the purpose. Alternatively, a committee of experts shall be formed to review journals and select at least on reputed journal of each major discipline with maximum issues per year.

(xxx).Public Administration:- 1. The scripts give the impression that majority of the candidates have not fully grasped the nature of the subject and its related concepts.

2. Question No. 3 regarding public corporations and Q.No. 8, regarding the system of auditing in Pakistan have been very poorly attempted by an overwhelming majority, while many have also failed to properly define and explain the concept of Public Administration.

3. Lack of critical thinking, unintelligible handwriting, a lot of spelling mistakes and noncompliance to the norms of written examination could be identified as the other major Flaws.

4. Conditional responses devoid of any intellectual depth and logical inconsistency are also common in most of the cases.

5. Many candidates have not bothered to understand questions before answering them. Hence instead of Tailoring the answer to the demands of the question, many candidates have resorted to pen down whatever has come to them.

6. Keeping in view the liberal options/choices of question, the candidate should have performed very well. However, the scripts indicate that perhaps most of the candidates do not consider exam as a serious project. They expects credit for whatever they write which needs to be discouraged by the examining authorities.

7. Many candidates have also serious problems in expressing themselves poor English and ignorance of punctuation are the main spoils of the whole thing.

(xxxi).Punjabi:-The general performance of the candidates was above average but some of them were extra ordinary perfect. A large number of candidates had written irrelevant or inappropriate matter. One of them has disclosed his identity on his answer sheet which I have pointed out.

2. Regarding readings, students should avoid guides and read the relevant text books. Hand writing must be dear and it should be made sure not to disclose identity.

(xxxii).Pure Maths, Paper-I:-In my opinion:
1. More than half of the candidates were not serious about the exam.

2. 2/3 of the candidates have confused concepts, seems having a bit better calculating skills.

3. Most of them did not seem to have consulted a book. Perhaps using some ‘notes’ (e.g. made some mistake in Q.3)

4. A couple of candidates have clear concepts and made systematic attempts.
I suggest:
1. It would be helpful if
• Book consultation is encouraged.
• More emphasis on correct concepts.
• No laborious calculations.
• ‘Learn by heart and reproduce’ may be minimized (except for definitions).
(xxxiii).Sindhi:- Overall performance of the candidates was good and few of them attempted the paper in an excellent manner. Along with this the questions of history of literature and folk love were not attempted by some candidates up to the standard of the paper.

(xxxiv).Sociology:- The Sociology paper was taken by 4365 candidates in Competitive Examination 2015. 20% of the candidates gave very good answers, 25% were good, 35% were satisfactory and 20% gave bad answers. The deficiencies found in the answers to the questions attempted were as follows:

1. The questions were attempted in a general way, which gave the impression that the candidates were not having basic knowledge about the theoretical frame work of Sociology.

2. The candidates stressed more on the outline of the answer but while giving the explanations. They could not justify the outline they already produced. It was disappointing.

It is suggested that the candidates who opt. for Sociology paper should not take it as a general knowledge subject. In depth study of the theories, over all Social Structure of Society, Social problems being faced by the people and their remedial measures, Social Development its concepts and procedures should be studies.

(xxxv).Zoology, Paper-I:-It was observed that out of 438 students 31% students seemed to appear in the examination just for fun or they wrongly opted for the subject of Zoology. About 42% students performed satisfactorily, while the rest 27% proved their worth and capability in having the option for Zoology.

It is suggested that at least M. Phil should be the basic criteria of eligibility for opting in this subject for the said exam. Many best books, on the subject are available in the market. A thorough study of any best book will suffice the requirement.

(xxxvi).ZOOLOGY PAPER-II:-The general overall performance of students in Zoology Paper-II, CSS-2015, examinations was satisfactory and at par with the international/regional standards. However, the marks obtained are general skewed towards the left of the Normal Distribution Curve. Therefore, it is my apprehension that perhaps the science candidates especially those opting Zoology are at some disadvantage when compared to the candidates from arts and humanities subjects like social sciences and languages etc. it is generally agreed that many of these Zoology candidates were otherwise high achievers from Pre-medical and medical groups in there undergraduate studies. Therefore the FPSC should devise a statistical formula to normalize and standardize the competition between hard core science and humanities.

I would also recommend the Zoology candidates to study authentic original/modern books written by the eminent foreign referees instead of plagiarized local guides and booklets from the local publishers. Moreover, no single book would suffice the reading for all the topics given in the syllabus of Zoology Paper-II.
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i am confuse in choosing subjects, kindly tell me which subject is more scoring "Pak indo history" or "History of USA"
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US History is more scoring, short, easy and interesting.
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good post
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