A Star in the Making in Pakistan's Civil Service

[prieti]

A Star in the Making in Pakistan's Civil Service

Making a difference—the evidence of success

A Star in the Making in Pakistan's Civil Service

Intern Posts Best Entrance Exam Score in 20 Years

Fida Hussein (topper2006) grew up in modest circumstances near Larkarna, Pakistan, in one of the poorer rural areas of Sindh province. He was schooled at public university, and his hard work and commitment always marked him out as someone bound to succeed.

But in February 2007, Fida achieved something extraordinary. On Pakistan’s notoriously demanding civil service exam, he received the highest score in his entire recruitment class—indeed the highest score recorded in nearly 20 years.

When he took the exam, Fida was an intern in a program sponsored by the Pakistan Legislative Strengthening Project (PLSP), a two-year parliamentary strengthening effort implemented by DAI and funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

The parliamentary internship program—jointly overseen by PLSP and the Secretariats of the
Senate of Pakistan and the National Assembly—is designed to support the workings of parliament while building the capacity of intern participants, the next generation of public servants. Twenty-eight young Pakistanis took part, selected from 450 applicants through a competitive process that included interviews by a joint committee of the Secretariats and tests on constitutional knowledge, parliamentary history, and contemporary policy. Similar PLSP internship programs are underway in Balochistan, North West Frontier Province, Punjab, and Sindh assemblies.

In a ceremony recognizing the first 28 program graduates, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Sardar Muhammad Yaqoob said “the internship program started by USAID/PLSP will go a long way in improving the skills of the young interns.”

Fida’s internship supervisor—Senator Nisar Memon, Chair of the Senate Standing Committee on Defense and Defense Production—made a special effort to attend the certificate ceremony as well. He said the internship program was an opportunity for some of the country’s best graduates to serve their nation by supporting the institutions of representative governance.

Fida attributed some of his recent success to his PLSP internship. “USAID gave me the confidence to face the interview panel, it sharpened my skills, it utilized my rusting abilities and energies,” he wrote in a farewell note to the program. “I am very
thankful to [PLSP] for your time-to-time feedback on my assignments and useful suggestions that you gave me. I have learned a lot from the USAID in general and from you in particular.”

PLSP staff appreciated those kind words but were quick to point out that Fida’s performance was largely due to his own hard work. Fida was recruited as one of the first parliamentary interns in spring 2006.

Assigned to the Senate Research Cell, he was quickly transferred to the Committee on Defense and Defense Production, where he prepared briefing papers, research reports, and complex analyses. One of his reports was so impressive the Chair had it circulated outside parliament.

Fida will join the Pakistani Civil Services Academy in September 2007, where he will train for service in the elite Civil Services Group. As the “topper” of the exam, he is allowed to choose his service, and there is a good chance we might one day see Fida in Pakistan’s diplomatic missions—as a result of his internship experience, foreign service is now very much one of his favored options.

http://www.dai.com/work/success_stor...il.php?stid=29