Dear members! It is often observed that CSS aspirants talk about reforms in CSS examination. Even those who get through examination, are asked to suggest some measures in their Psychological test in this regard. And this is rather unfortunate of them that there suggestions have always been unheard. Moreover, those who exhaust their all three attempts also develop a certain outlook towards causes of their failure in the examination or towards flaws in the whole system. In this pretext, i would exhort forum members to make their valuable suggestions which could change CSS from an enigma to a Real Testing and Recruiting System.

Salam!
i have given this year written exams of css. i did not like objective part coz it is just like trying ur luck wid out concept or ''tukka'' i think mcq's should b replace by short quetions that will surely test the knowledge of candidate related to subject. i havnt any experience of psychological test but during my stay i have met some officers but i was truly amased by their attitude that how could they pass psychological test? they were too much rude even wid their own batch mates.
regards

Well, CSS is well organized and systematic exam however it certainly needs some reforms which would not only enhaunce the capability of future CSPs but also will provide indepth knowledge to them. For this purpose following reforms are must to make it more competitive.

Firstly, optional papers must be done away with. it seems inappropriate to have so many optionals of diverse nature while the passed candidates have to serve in one department hence one major subject is needed for one candidate. instead of having so many optional subjects, the candidate should be asked to choose the subject related to his occupational group. In this regards, Mr Sadaat's sugestion can be taken with some amendment. he says there should be four set of related occupational groups and a candidate must choose only one set of occupational groups. there should be three subjects of 200 marks related to the specific set of occupational groups. this would provide real indepth knowledge to the CSP about his work and department. this type of reform can, some how, bring a sort of specialization.

Secondly, there should be equal policy for all subject. as a rule of thumb, the compulsory are difficult than optionals and there is inconsistency in scoring as well. it is totally rediculous to down or up the scores.

Thirdly, to pass CSS is not a child's play, it is the cream of Pakistan. the government's policy to select only 200 or some passed candidates is understandable however what is not understandable is losing such a cream. there should be structural and policy reforms, the left over candidates who pass the exam but could not qualify to be selected should be given contractual posts in various public Higher and Higher Secondary schools. to me, this is a brillient idea to enhance literacy rate of Pakistan on one hand and to use the cream of pakistan on the other.

Conclusion:

CSS recruitment and selection process needs to be reformed in a way that it becomes more and more competitive and would also bring some productivity to Pakistan's socio economic development. In this regards rule of specialization needs to be upheld; equal scoring standards should be set for all subjects; optionals should be replaced withe only 3 work related subjects and left over passed candidates should be used for socio economic development of Pakistan.

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Ahmad Shakeel Babar
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"If you really want to achieve something the whole universe conspires for you to get your dream realized."

Your suggestion to increase the additional subjects means that CSS should in a sense become a functionally specialized services instead of a generalized one?
I think first of all a person how knows law (According to Mr. Saadat) in no way means he is the best candidate for DMG/PSP/MLCG category. The candidate must be extrovert, bold and outgoing. then again Syed Saadat has suggested to confine the student to a single category per year. I am curious if you're given three chances which category will you apply for; I know I'll apply for the DMG category in all three chances. In the end who will join the Railways group?
The concept of additional papers means no use of STP.
Optional subjects are a good way to score and it would b impossible to decide which to remove and which to leave. The candidates come from very diverse background. Subjects are also different in their level of difficulty and therefore marks vary, I in actual do agree Rose that consistency in marking is required.

Do check http://www.cssforum.com.pk/general/d...ed-saadat.html

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A fool can ask a wise man more questions than he can answer....

Well, I do not agree with Mr Sadaat in his each argument. You are right that a person having attempted thrice would have no chance to go for fourth one with some other subject selection, in the case presented by the author. However, the fact is that a specialized person is much more knowlegable and capable of solving his concernced problems than a generalized one. A genralized should not be given priority on a specialized one, this is argumented in almost all the researches conducted on civil service reforms in pakistan. HOwever the situation is grim as Pakistan has huge rate of unemployment and people have to struggle for getting thier right position which means specialization would only help the elite class. Mr Sadaat is right saying that a doctor may end his service doing debit and credits in accounts.

In this situation where we have high unemployment rate on the one hand and desireability of having specialized persons on the other hand, we can adopt a middle ground. Some more variety of optionals can be added whereby the optionals should be restructured in a way that a person having zero knowledge of any one of the occupational group can develop a comprehensive understanding regarding that, if not specialized one. more specifically, if a person wants to join foreign service, there should be a variety of optionals covering at least 300 marks related to the foreign services. secondly, for specialized positions like health, specialized people should be encouraged, may be given 5 extra marks in interview. all other non-specialized positions should be immune from specialized - generalized discussion and all should be given equal opportunity.

and one additional suggestion, you may disagree, there should be one additional compulsory paper of "Developing Pakistan" in which suggestions should be asked to develop Pakistan and solving her socio-economic and religio-political problems. this paper may be of the type we have attempted in 2011. the current affairs paper should only be related to contemporary happening and analysis.

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Ahmad Shakeel Babar
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"If you really want to achieve something the whole universe conspires for you to get your dream realized."

DMG AND PSP,foreign service
is of worth ambition.Toppers got that post.In that case all have opportunities to enter in this world.This would undermine our hard work and pvs ones too.
Yup my suggestion is Our PMs ,MNAs, and all ye type should have specialized exams and after passing this they are allowed to make parties.consider it

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"Wa tu izzu man-ta shaa, wa tu zillu man-ta shaa"

Yup, universal standards to be adopted for all . Imagine party leaders giving exams in examination halls . Still have to Sadia.... food for thought

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A fool can ask a wise man more questions than he can answer....

Nah na!
Universality appeal literacy ,education.here these rely on "Ja'ali degree".and consider who not have any exam and seats in parliment.and they if have done master or that kind imagine that is also a exam.And it will reduce personalization in politics and middle class will consider themselves responsible for government.
Anyhow suggestion is suggestion.do not worry it will not implement.

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"Wa tu izzu man-ta shaa, wa tu zillu man-ta shaa"

I stongly agree as fate of 90 mn educated Pakistanis is in the hands of some illiterate or having "JEHLI DEGREES". not all politicians are like this, a significant number of them are well educated however even those who are educated need an "ethics" training.

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Ahmad Shakeel Babar
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"If you really want to achieve something the whole universe conspires for you to get your dream realized."

. They should only keep 5-6 compulsory subjects at most. Merge the essay and english paper into a single 100 mark paper, because thats enough to judge the language command. Its even insulting to judge a candidate with idioms and vocabulary on a basic level when it can be simplified.

2. Instead of Every day science- that I really dont know has what purpose for a future CSP- they should put more useful subjects like Economics and Public Administration/government. Remaining subs should remain the same. Further, it doesnt make sense to give subject options to cater to every occupation around because even if someone was a doctor before and has now been admitted into Foreign Services for eg, he will never have to open up his medical books again. So what are we judging by it? How good Ive licked clean my books?

3. And to the tougher part. After these 5 core subjects, the assessment should solely consist of oral/discursive aspect. It is here that an individual's potential is actually measured- not by endless writing/rot-learning marathons. No wonder, the caliber of today's CSP's has seen a steep downfall. There should be at least few of the following:

- 3 group discussions
- 1 major real life case study given to candidate after which he/shes asked to give solutions in written form ( and later 'grilled' about by the interview panel). All the better if this is done wrt ones choice of service group. My point is- speaking eloquently is alot more difficult that thinking and writing.

4. 16 years education should definitely be a pre-requisite along with at least 2 years of work experience. Corruption is inevitable if a 23 year old lad can manage to set himself as an ASP one fine day. Can you imagine the power the kid has out of nowhere? But when you do this, you must also raise the age bar to a respectable 35 years old. Too many worthy candidates get wasted only because - hey, before they knew it , they were 28! The 20's is a decade of discovering yourself, getting experience, even having fun is vital to this. It shouldnt be over before its begun.

5. And yeah, not to forget, a female candidate's status, domicile etc should not be changed if she doesnt want to. It isnt divine law which says that a woman can only be recognized by her marital status.