ISLAMABAD: Just 2.09pc of the students who had sat the Central Superior Services (CSS) exams passed, with 92pc failing in English, the National Assembly Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat was told on Monday.

The committee directed the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) to submit a detailed report on the exams in a month.

During the meeting, FPSC representatives said that 9,642 students had sat the exams this year, of which only 202 had managed to pass. The committee was told that CSS results had been deteriorating over the past few years with 3.33pc students clearing the exam in 2014, 3.11pc in 2015 and 2.09pc this year.

The FPSC representative said this was a matter of concern and that it indicated that the quality of education in the country was deteriorating.

Parliamentary committee seeks report on the exams

“Most of the students were graduates of foreign universities and of A category universities but 92pc of those who appeared in the exams failed in English and 82pc failed in English essay writing,” the official said.

The committee was told that 114 students from Punjab had passed, 13 from rural Sindh, 16 from urban Sindh, 18 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 4 from Balochistan, 4 from Azad Jammu and Kashmir and one from Gilgit Baltistan.

The Chairman of the Committee, Rana Akbar Hayat expressed concern over the deteriorating standard of education in Pakistan and directed the FPSC to submit a report regarding the exam in a month so that the committee can take appropriate action.

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf MNA Asad Umar said that the exam results showed that the education system of the country was faulty and that the issue needs to be addressed.

A lecturer at a government college, Dr Iftikhar Ahmed said the results indicate that the quality of education needs to be improved.

“Unfortunately, the government focuses on developing infrastructure in educational institutions instead of concentrating on the syllabus, teaching methods and education standards,” he said.

The CSS exams are the most important in the country through which appointment are made in the foreign office, bureaucracy, lower judiciary, police, customs, secretariat staff and other offices and departments.

A large number of institutions and academies offer to help students prepare for these exams and make millions of rupees in the process.

Published in Dawn, December 6th, 2016