I RECENTLY appeared in CSS examinations at Rawalpindi. It is an examination which takes months to prepare and carries the hopes and dreams of many striving students.

However, owing to a typo by the FPSC precious time of many candidates will be wasted and hopes will dash. In the essay examination held on Feb 15, there was a typo in the essay number 10 (there was a choice of 10 essays out of which one had to be attempted) which read ‘Violence is a large refuge of the incompetent’ and was later corrected as ‘Violence is a last refuge of the incompetent’.

The typo changed the meaning of the essay and the worst part is that candidates were notified of this error as late as one hour and 15 minutes at my examination centre. When students protested, they were told to swallow this bitter pill and simply move on.

The essay examination consists of one question of 100 marks. The essay part of the examination is the toughest hurdle in clearing the CSS examination. Results over the years show that nearly 90 per cent of candidates fail to clear this part.

Since candidates struggle for passing the examination in three hours, in my case I had just one hour and 30 minutes to attempt the question. This means I do not stand a chance of clearing the examination.

Applications have been given demanding a retake of the examination but so far the FPSC has remained cold.

So far the incident has been kept under the carpet. Let us hope that somebody in the upper echelons of power takes notice of this typo and gives the affected candidates relief.

A candidate
Rawalpindi