No end to the miseries of the CSS aspirants

Demand removal of restriction on age limit imposed in 1999 by the dictator

The aspirants of the civil services of Pakistan have been protesting against the restriction of age limit (28 year) since 1999 but no silver lining is seen while they have been continuously demanding the relaxation of age for nearly 5 years.

While talking to INFN Kashif Saleem, a CSS competitor said “I think age limit should be extended to 30 years. The level of education in Pakistan is very low and most of the students start their academic career at the age of 6 years in rural areas. There is hell of a difference in the mental caliber of a student coming from an Urdu medium Government school and that from an English medium private school. Urdu medium students require more time for preparation”.

“There are numerous students that have to financially support their families and they do not have enough time to pay proper attention to their studies. They should also be given time as well. Most of the students do not have proper information about CSS or any other competitive exams while two years of age relaxation will not affect any sort of energy level or innovation.” He added.

The affected candidates said, “The age limit was brought down from 30 to 28 years by the Musharraf-led government, and the step was benefiting only a particular stratum of the society.”

The prime minister has rejected the summary proposing increase in the age limit of candidates in CSS competitive examination. Prime minister was reportedly of the view that the age limit attracts the best of the country’s youth.

The age limit in our neighboring countries India and Bangladesh is 30-35 but why not in Pakistan? All the three countries have been ruled by British and have also adopted their way of administration which we normally called democracy. With the passage of time lots of changes took place but we have the same old system and we do not want to change it. Now our education has brought about lots of changes like, four year (BS) has been introduced but why we cannot change the system introduced by the dictator?

The talented, hardworking and enthusiastic students are requesting the policy makers and the government to extend the age limit to end their woes. The age limit for this sort of exam should be abolished altogether as it will open up new avenues for the scholars to take part in the competition in terms of talent, hard work, creativity, leadership, good communication skills and good psychological condition.