paper checking mechanism: its about time

[nauman mahsud]

Salam everyone

Almost all the tests conducted these days all over the world whether for admission or induction are objective in format. The primary motivations are to minimize errors while checking and to expedite the process. What's encouraging and satisfying about these tests are that they are as tough, analytic and thorough as a test could be measuring all the abilities to a finer degree it purports to.

Rarely will one find an exam as subjective as CSS yet FPSC will immediately jump to its defense all guns blazing whenever it is criticized on any forum. The only reason, i assure you, is FPSC'S fear of overhauling the system; even the thought of undertaking such a task moves it out of its comfort zone of lethargy. Like other governmental departments FPSC has rusted away to a degree where any meaningful change is not only abhorred but resisted at all costs.

Its extremely rare to have a consensus regarding anything in this country. CSS has long been considered the fairest of exams conducted by the government and by and large, there is a near agreement among the citizens and especially the aspirants as far as its credibility is concerned. The selection mechanisms might be immune to nepotism, favoritism and bribery, which in itself is anomaly in Pakistan and must be lauded given the current standards of this country, but its definitely not to arbitrariness.

Some 11000 candidates appeared in the 2013 exam which means 11000 current affairs papers have to be checked.It's literally impossible for one teacher to mark all the papers therefore the papers have to be
distributed among several teachers. Every teacher has his/her own marking criteria which is clearly reflected in the detailed marks of the failed candidates. How can one call this exam fair when marks for the papers of same subject are awarded by different teachers; one professor grants 65 marks to a candidate who has performed at a certain level and another candidate on the same level receives 45 by another professor. Besides two answer sheets of same quality marked by the same person could receive very different marks because of the dearth of time at the checker's disposal. Marking these papers is additional responsibility to the every day work! ask any professor and he/she will tell you how impossible it is to mark so many sheets thoroughly with all the other responsibilities they have to cater to on daily basis.

A difference of 10 to 15 marks in one paper translates into 120 to 180 marks for the whole exam. such is the nature of competition in CSS that a difference of a single mark can seal a candidate's fate and we are talking about huge numbers here. if this is not arbitrariness then what is ? if this is not an unjust exam than what is ? it might look good on the surface but on scratching it becomes agonizingly patent that it's a far cry from what its organizers claim it to be. Two candidates with same subjects and similar performance can end up poles apart;one might become a DMG or POLICE officer and the other a disgruntled failure and for good reasons.

The candidates have more than doubled over the last four to five years and FPSC simply couldn't keep the pace. The faislabad incident has already raised many questions regarding FPSC's efficiency and many are saying that the record low 2% result is an attempt at redeeming their pride. It's truly shameful if that indeed is the case. Honestly there is no reasonable explanation for such a turnaround of result abruptly.

Ideally the whole format should be changed as it abounds in inadequacies and has long been rendered obsolete but that's not going to happen anytime soon. FPSC couldn't arrange for a screening test despite having the luxury of time on its side let alone changing the entire format. Anyway the immediate goal should be a level playing field. The candidates need to be made assure by the FPSC that each paper is marked against a certain criterion.

It's an appeal to all the stake holders and especially the future aspirants to form a pressure group and move court against this disgraceful and lopsided method of checking. Unless FPSC convinced us entirely of a new equitable and justifiable mechanism for paper marking, it should not be allowed to conduct another exam. A stay order in this regard is need of the hour. its about time we acted.

the motivation plunges anyway the moment a person recognizes that the system is not reliable enough. sooner or later you are going to realize the inherent weaknesses in the system. i hope everyone who is expecting fair play heeds to this suggestion. otherwise don't have high expectations no matter how much awesome u do at the exam and brace yourself for any eventuality and keep working on alternatives.

[bear]

nauman ,
i agree 101% with what you have said in your post
but it isn't fpsc who is the sole culprit . the candidates/aspirants too are involved and majority of them don't want the system to be changed .
when fpsc announced screening test most of the people rejected this idea and thus fpsc had to postpone the screening test until 2015 .

in my opinion there should be no optional subjects . you may have observed it that optional subjects make this exam a labyrinth and there is no standard that can be made to balance the marking criteria . for example you may think of a candidate getting 200 /200 marks in maths but would this happen in anyway to a candidate who opted history. the answer is so obvious .
now when we discuss this above mentioned problem then most of the people come up with the answer that "an interview is there for the adjustment ."
comeon its a competition exam not an adjustment exam . every thing must be made fair and balanced . do include some subjects form the current optional groups but all of them must be compulsory for all candidates . subjects like journalism , sociology , IR , iLaw , regional languages, public ad , urdu should all be compulsory.

also how can just a single essay asses one's writing ability , rather there should be atleast 5 essays on different topics and candidates should have no choice if we really want to see one writing ability . (one must attempt all 5 essays in 6 consecutive hours with each comprising 1200 - 1500 words )

[bmahmood]

Well said , by both Numan and Bear ,

Fate of aspirants depends upon the mood of examiner , which differs time to time. We should not only criticise examiner only , vital role of FPSC's ruthless policy is another dilemma, normally a very clear and lucid stance by every aspirant.

[mushi]

i still don't know how can one student get 65 marks in comprehension and 5 marks in essay?

[Shahab Farooqi]

yes brother you are absolutely right in your argument but the argument is not practicable in case of Central Superior Service because all civil service exams around the world are of subjective type. The exams also contain an objective portion as well but the main portion of civil service exam of almost all countries of the world is subjective.