An alleged question paper showed school-level multiple-choice questions (MCQs) for the future civil servants during the Central Superior Services (CSS) exams.
The MCQs for scrutinising the IQ level of the candidates, who would become the future bureaucrats, included general science questions that are being taught to school students.
The criteria of CSS exams raised many eyebrows as the MCQs could be easily attempted by school students.
The CSS examination is extremely competitive but here is the picture of the question paper:
What is CSS?
The Central Superior Services (CSS) is a permanent elite civil service authority, and the civil service that is responsible for running the bureaucratic operations and government secretariats and directorates of the Cabinet of Pakistan. The prime minister is the final authority on all matters regarding the civil service.
Civil Services have become the key wheels on which the entire engine of the state has to move. Hence the leaders for these services are drawn through the competitive examination. The officers thus appointed are bestowed with solemn responsibilities and are scheduled to hold the highest offices of the country, according to CSS.com.pk.
The civil bureaucracy closely collaborated with the military establishments of the Pakistani Armed Forces on issues concerning national security.
The bureaucracy consists of 12 directorates that provide vital office and secretariat related duties to the Government of Pakistan.
The provincial bureaucracies are headed by the respective Chief Secretaries of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan. The highest attainable rank for an officer who serves in the country’s bureaucracy is BPS-22 grade.
Commissioned officers of the Pakistan Army, Pakistan Air Force and Pakistan Navy have their own quota of 10% in all service groups of the Central Superior Services but historically they have only joined the Pakistan Administrative Service (previously known as the District Management Group), Office Management Group, Foreign Service of Pakistan, and Police Service of Pakistan. Usually, officers who join the civil services are of the rank of Captain / Lieutenant / Flight Lieutenant (equivalent to BPS-17 grade).
Ranks are shortlisted by respective Services Headquarters and selected against this quota after the interview process. The interviews are conducted by a committee headed by the Chairman of the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC), the same as in the case for regular candidates. Only the written exam is waived.
Competitive CSS exams
The CSS examination is extremely competitive; for every one aspirant selected there are 200 who are not; in 2015, more than 36000 candidates competed for 158 posts as compared to 2011 when approximately 19,000 candidates participated in the open public examination of the civil service; only 8.0% of them were qualified for 188 government jobs. In 2019, a total of 14,521 candidates appeared in the exam, out of which only 214 (1.47%) were finally recommended by the Federal Public Service Commission for various posts under the federal government.
Only candidates between 21 and 30 years old are eligible to apply for CSS Exam. A candidate can appear for a maximum of three attempts. CSS Exam has two major parts: a written test, which takes place in February or March, and a panel interview, which takes place in November.
In the first part FPSC test the students in 12 different subjects. Six subjects are compulsory and 6 are optional. Candidates can choose six subjects of their own choice from many different options. There is a total of 1200 numbers and a candidate must have to get 600 marks to pass the exam.