It is possible to reform the different stages of the Civil Superior Services (CSS) examination, which include the preliminary, main and interview. The preliminary examination, only qualifying in nature, can address the subjects of conceptual skills, abstract thinking and problem solving skills. It can be just a multiple choice question paper, and using decentralised and superior computer technology, the scrutiny of preliminary answer sheets should be concluded for candidates within a few days. This would mean that the candidate could focus on the main examination without getting distracted by the preliminary. Such a screening examination would undoubtedly result in excluding candidates who are affecting the statistics of a poor CSS examination result. However, this can be compensated by candidates demonstrating better general overall performance in the written and interview results. After this, main examination papers and interview process should be deployed to ensure that they are assessing candidates who have more chances to improve the CSS results.
There is also a need to rationalise the syllabus as per what is required of a civil servant. Firstly, optional papers should be done away with to create a level playing field. Similar examinations in France and the UK have no optional subjects. CSS candidates are opting for optional subjects on the basis of getting more marks, and not on the basis of their own specialisation or interest, suggesting that optional papers are breeding rote learning and coaching academies. More worryingly, better candidates might be outcompeted because their optional subject turns out to be less scoring.
Written papers that comprise the main examination should be reduced to a few, shifting greater focus to the interview. In France and the UK, civil services examinations focus on human rights, economic and social development, administrative and environmental law, public systems management, science and technology and economics and accountancy. Besides basic knowledge of English, CSS papers should test the above-mentioned skills that are essential to a civil servant.
The above-given changes would introduce a new set of assessment approach. This sets the stage for the next radical reform: conducting the examination twice a year, which may have a whole lot of administrative headache but it has some advantages for candidates. Giving unsuccessful candidates the choice to take another shot quickly would, in case of repeated failures, help them focus on rebuilding their career.
The next great reform must go towards weaning candidate’s dependence off the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC). The examination must not negate the importance of college education and make work experience count.
If being a civil servant is a great responsibility, how can government ignore the criticality of prior work experience? In France, a substantial share of seats for civil servants is reserved for those with four-eight years of work experience. Strong emphasis should be laid on the duration and quality of work experience during the interview. As in France, the maximum age limit to appear for the FPSC must be set in accordance with duration of work experience. For those without work experience, the limit should be brought down by six years. Subsequently, it should be increased depending on the duration of work experience. Bands of duration of work experience, such as between one-two years and two-four years, could be created. The uppermost age limit should be capped at 30, 32 and 35 years. Making work experience count would encourage candidates to seek alternative employment before they embrace the FPSC. In the event of failure, this would leave them with a chance to go back to their employment. It would prevent those without work experience from getting too old to find alternative employment.
The decline in CSS results has three undesirable outcomes: it works against the interests of the weaker sections, does not enable recruitment of best candidates at a malleable age, and puts a premium on rote learning and training academies. Similar arguments have been raised before without allowing too many attempts. Eventually, steps must be taken to make the examination online, but only after the inherent biases an online examination carries have been eliminated through mass computer literacy. This would further crunch the examination cycle, bringing the FPSC in line with other examinations.
The idea of the civil services examination is to consciously find young people who can be trained to take initiatives, risks and show resourcefulness. A country’s progress is determined by good governance, and the civil services examination is the first step to get best candidates to the central superior services. Public interest requirement of getting the best talent into civil services must remain the prime objective. Most successful candidates from a rural background graduate from a university situated in an urban area. With technological advancements, the gap in having access to information or library books etc has narrowed considerably. Testing the intellectual capacity, power to analyse issues and the ability to express views cogently are important criteria in addition to assessing the extent of knowledge of subjects pursued in university courses. While there have been some major reforms in the last few years, a section of aspirants may find reforms in the civil services screening process useful.
(Concluded)
The writer is a professor of psychiatry and consultant forensic psychiatrist in the UK. He can be contacted at [email protected]