KARACHI:
The Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC) has repeatedly come under scrutiny due to its incompetency, corruption, lack of transparency and nepotism. In 2021, the Sindh High Court (SHC) barred the commission from conducting recruitment, imposing a ban due to allegations of corruption. Despite this, the SPSC seems to have learned little from its past blunders, whether it’s paper leaks or nepotistic recruitments that continue to plague the commission.
Recently, the SPSC issued a notification, nullifying the screening test for the Combined Competitive Examination 2023 (CCE-2023) after the majority of candidates failed to achieve the required 50 per cent passing marks. Instead of acknowledging its own shortcomings, the commission implied that the aspirants lacked adequate preparation, urging them to work harder for the upcoming de novo screening test. However, the mass failure should be attributed to the SPSC, not the candidates. The questions in the test were either out of syllabus or far more difficult than the standard of education provided in Sindh. Given that Sindh’s literacy rate stands at a mere 60 per cent, a fact well-known to all, the SPSC should consider this while setting examination papers.
Reconducting the test will not only place a heavy financial burden on the commission but also on the aspirants, who will have to travel to urban centres in Sindh to retake the test. Many aspirants are not solely dependent on SPSC recruitment, and the disruption to their study schedules is significant. Instead of reconducting the screening test, awarding grace marks would have been a more pragmatic decision.
Moving forward, the SPSC must exercise greater care in setting examination papers. Deliberately failing aspirants only raises further questions about the commission’s credibility.
Danish Khoso
Karachi
