“They assured us that the candidates will be compensated but didn’t exactly say how,” said Mujtaba Samejo, who met the officials along with Ali. They warned the officials of court proceedings if the SPSC did not address their concerns.PHOTO: STOCK IMAGE
The candidates who sat for the test fear many of them will fail to make it to the second stage of the exams — the written test — owing to mistakes in the question paper.
As many as 24,442 candidates were issued admit cards for the December 28 test. According to SPSC controller Hadi Bux Kalhoro, only around 18,000 appeared in the test, which was held simultaneously in three centres in Hyderabad, Sukkur and Karachi. A total of 182 posts, including 136 of BPS-17 and 46 of BPS-16, are up for grabs.
Controversy
Several of the 100 MCQs in the screening test had mistakes, the candidates alleged. They claim that a large number of candidates who scored 50 or more marks will be most affected as they would not be able to accrue the minimum 60 marks, required to qualify for the written test.
“There were at least 15 questions with wrong answers,” alleged Asif Ali, who met the SPSC officials on Wednesday to submit complaints and recommendations on behalf of around a 100 candidates.
For example, the answer key of a question asking in which part of the atmosphere the commercial flights usually fly is given as ‘troposphere’. But the correct answer for this question is supposed to be ‘stratosphere’. Another key wrongly puts the spiral galaxy as the largest in the universe. According to Ali, another mistake is the use of the term, Doppler MRI machine, because magnetic resonance imagery is a completely different system from the Doppler technology. Another candidate, who did not want to be identified because he is a government servant, pointed out that Mirikot has been mentioned as the small fort enclosure in Ranikot fort in Jamshoro. Whereas, the correct answer was that both the Mirikot and Shergarh, which was also given as an option, are regarded as small enclosures in the historic fort.
SPSC sources say that the screening test was introduced as an additional test to ensure that the candidates with good knowledge of the written test’s subjects qualify for the exam. The written exam comprises six compulsory subjects totaling 700 marks, including a viva voce with 250 marks, and three optional subjects worth 150 marks each.
In a press statement issued on Tuesday, the SPSC admitted human error, putting it at around one or two per cent. “The candidates are assured that the margin of error will not affect their overall result,” read the statement issued by the controller.
A senior official of the SPSC, who sought anonymity, admitted to The Express Tribune that there were typing mistakes. “The chairperson has directed the members to sort out this issue. Benefit in terms of marks will be given to the candidates.”
The candidates’ delegation met the SPSC chairperson, Dr Agha Rafiq Ahmed, and controller Hadi Bux Kalhoro. They asked them to cancel the screening test, allowing all candidates to take the written tests and reduce the minimum passing marks to 40 instead of 60, or give at least 10 more marks to each candidate.
“They assured us that the candidates will be compensated but didn’t exactly say how,” said Mujtaba Samejo, who met the officials along with Ali. They warned the officials of court proceedings if the SPSC did not address their concerns.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 2nd, 2015.
COMMENTS (9)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
Greetings,
Well, I went through the column published in this page . SPSC is no more useful to be used for recruiting the commissioned officers and it will never become transparent in anyway. Results of 2006 and in 2008-9 are an eye opener for all of us. So how this department can be a transparent in terms of recruitment.
Nonsense are all these officials who are doing this. I had also appeared in PCS 2008-9 and the mark sheet was dispatched in 2011. I ma wondered on the stupidity of SPSC. Shame on their policies.
I dnt understand Y u guys are creating chaos for others who have qualified. I hv qualified and hv no links wid the Chairman. I hv qualified by dint of my hard work. U failures are wasting our time also. After a long time we hv got a impartial Chairman and U guys are demeaning him. Fools!!! U r saying that screening test shd be cancelled because it is not in the constitution of SPSC. Then why did u appear in the test? Stop giving excuses. Nincompoops!!!
It was very unfortunate that the deserving people have left behind and they were not passed by the SPSC We strongly condemn the copy culture & inefficiency of the dept at every nook & corner.The test should be re-arranged without making blunders...
it was totally full of discrimination and anarchy during the test,we can say that it was just 1st stage of corruption nor a screening test.at last,spsc proved that isn't independent authority.
it was totally discrimination,we can say that it was 1st stage of corruption once again spsc proved that he is not full independent authority.
Well done boys. As in Sindhi Newspaper Ibrat article about SPSC's disputed Screening Test is published today, in which also demand of cancelation of screening test and its result are given. Satisfactory expalanation of SPSC chairman and officials has also been stated.
I appreciate the candidates and also demand to Cancel the screening test Or give +10 to each candidate because the paper was out of syllabus. And there was not even a single question from current affairs. They have mentioned only english, every day science,pak affairs and current affairs. And asked questions about the goat and the canal which is totally out of the syllabus.
Cancel the screening test Or give each candidate +10 Because the questions were out of syllabus. There was no current affair. And division of sections were also not there
Students prepare for a long time to appear in Sindh Public Service Exams but when the face such a situation they are not only feel embarrassed but also feel dejected.
The SPSC administration should have notice the errors in the paper before distribution of the papers and answer sheets to the candidates.
There ms be human typing error, but it was supposed to be removed by the authorized person who was responsible of making the papers.