ISLAMABAD: The Central Superior Services (CSS) of Pakistan is – hands down – the most difficult and competitive examination to enter the country’s bureaucracy.
Every year, thousands of candidates, from all over the country, apply for the CSS exam – in a bid to change their lives and career for good. Although – with history as a witness – over 90% applicants usually fail in its turnout.
The CSS examination result of 2016 has shocked the country altogether. With over 27,000 applicants – almost 9,700 appeared in the exam – only 202 candidates cleared the written stage. However, their allocation now depends on the interview.
This is indeed the worst CSS result in the history of Pakistan as only 2.09% of the candidates who appeared were able to clear all their subjects and achieve an aggregate score of over 50% – it seems like the difficultly level of the game advanced from ‘hard’ to ‘expert’.
Since the recent change in the subject groupings, the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) introduced a handful of new subjects – of which an aspirant had to choose one. Almost 75% students failed in these new subjects, while clearing all the others. It gives the impression that the FPSC finds a new agenda – every year – to hold back a candidate’s result.
Previously the subject that tranquilised majority of the students – English Essay – had better results this year but the commission still managed to bring out ‘the worst result in its history’. Every year, at least 350-450 candidates are expected to clear the exam – of which 150-200 are allocated on basis of their domiciles.
This article originally appeared on Parhlo.com
