MNAs flabbergasted at dismal CSS results

Minister calls for countrywide national curriculum to address deteriorating educational standards

ISLAMABAD:

The National Assembly on Friday took notice of steep fall in the country’s educational standards as from 2019 to 2021, of the 49,000 candidates who appeared for the Central Superior Services (CSS) examinations, 45,800 failed in essay writing and 33,000 were unable to pass the English paper.

CSS is a competitive exam organised by the Federal Public Services Commission (FPSC) to recruit civil officers on merit.

The Establishment Division presented the results of the CSS examinations for the three years in the House.

According to its statistics, of the 49,000 candidates who appeared for the CSS exams during these years, 26,000 were unable to pass in Pakistan Affairs while 25,500 failed in Islamiyat.

A total of 1,137 of them chose Urdu as an optional subject but 620 of them were unable to pass it.

As per documents, in the 2019 CSS exam, 14,205 candidates appeared for essay writing, but 13,328 of them failed with the pass percentage standing at just 6%.

Read more: Declining CSS results leave top recruiter scratching its head

It was worse in the 2020 CSS exam, wherein only 4% managed to pass in essay writing. Of the 18,387 candidates who took the essay writing test, 17,735 were unable to pass it.

The year 2021 was somewhat better as of the 16,887 who took the essay writing test, 14,760 failed with a pass percentage of 13%.

In English, 73% candidates failed in the CSS exam in 2019, followed by 39% in 2020, and 92% in 2021.

Of the candidates who opted for Urdu, 30% were unable to pass the subject in 2019, 59% failed in 2020, followed by 73% in 2021.

In Pakistan Affairs, the failure percentage stood at 37% in 2019, 71% in 2020, and 46% in 2021.

As for Islamiyat, 18% of the candidates were unable to pass in 2019, 51% in 2020, and 81% in 2021.

These startling figures caused the MNAs to express their grave concerns and raise questions over the country’s educational system.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Murtaza Javed Abbasi expressed his outrage over the slumping educational standards in the country.

The minister blamed the different educational systems existing in the country at the same time for the problem.

Abbasi noted that there were flaws and shortcomings in the country’s educational set-up that needed to be addressed.

He called for the imposition of a countrywide national curriculum to solve the problem, describing it as the need of the hour.

The minister added that the federal government would have to work with the provinces to uplift the country’s educational standards.