THIS is in reference with the letter ‘CSS and English’ (March 12). As long as English remains the language of official communication in Pakistan, the importance of English in CSS examinations cannot be overemphasised.

Business communication is a subject in all engineering and business institutions, as in all professions written and verbal communication in English plays a vital role and, unfortunately, this is the weakest area.

I have been teaching this subject in business schools and was appalled to see that a large number of students cannot write a few correct sentences in simple English.

Civil servants of any group are supposed to write briefs, summaries, minutes and other forms of correspondence as part of their duties, and their inability to do so will not only add to their inefficiency, and can also create serious communication gaps and faux pas.

I recommend that in addition to the present English language curriculum for CSS, every candidate should be made to give a presentation on any subject to assess his/her proficiency in spoken English.

And, finally, English is no more a legacy of the British, but is an international language of business, corporate world and, above all, of science and technology.

Khayyam Durrani

Karachi

(2)

THIS is with reference to the letter ‘CSS and English’ (March 12) wherein the writer has claimed: “We may have got our independence from the British, but we are still enslaved by their language”.

I would like to remind one and all that Pakistan was created by a man who spoke Urdu with great difficulty, if at all. All his speeches were in English, and, according to Roedad Khan: “Even though most of the audience did not understand a word of what he said, they knew that he was the one who would make them free”.

Being a simple and easy-to-learn language, English should be taught to all children from the beginning if we wish to progress as a nation.

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2021