STUDENTS have to go through several forms of examinations throughout their academic lives, but preparing for competitive examinations, especially those related to the Central Superior Services (CSS) and the Provincial Management Services (PMS), is quite different. It is a nerve-testing task that requires patience and time. Every year, thousands of students appear in these competitive exams across Pakistan, but only a few hundred pass its various phases, and get placed in different departments. Around 97-98 per cent of the applicants fail at some stage of the multi-phase examinations.

With such a low passing ratio, it is amazing that people still plan a career in bureaucracy. It is a rather strange urge on the part of students who sit these exams. There are several other fields and domains to master and succeed in. The students should explore more options that are in line with their interests and aptitude before deciding what suits them the most. Unfortunately, not many want to explore what they actually want to do in life. They blindly follow others.

The only beneficiary of such an approach to life happens to be the academies and the so-called mentors who make money at the cost of these students in the name of fee, tests and mock exams. Also, the government makes decent money through application fee.

It is high time the students realised their true potential, jumped off the bandwagon and honed their best skills. This will reduce saturation in any particular field, and will produce human assets for the country in a large variety of fields.

Nabi Bakhsh Sarparah
Mastung

Published in Dawn, June 11th, 2024