Can we survive without merit?

PUBLIC SERVICE

The controversy over the Sindh Public Services Commission exams has demonstrated the collapse of merit in our society. In that exam, only 70 out of thousands of candidates received a passing grade. The written portion of that exam was conducted in 2024, and the results were declared only a few weeks ago. The announcement of the result was suspended by the Sindh High Court, and a legal battle continues amid allegations of mass nepotism, with claims that only the rich and powerful cleared the exam.

Students, teachers and others, including left-leaning groups, are protesting the exam and the manner in which it has been held over the last two decades or so. There is controversy, too, over the manner in which the Central Superior Services exam is held, with a very low passing percentage rate, although the point made by the Commission that this is because the understanding and writing skills of the candidates are so limited despite the years of rigorous study may well be true.

Recently, the issue of merit has struck society, or at least its elite portions, in a dramatic way, as the story of cheating and the leaking of papers in the prestigious Cambridge exam came to light in the country. Only one per cent of the total number of students in the country sit for the exams organised by the Cambridge International Examination Syndicate, and it has long been thought that their standards are high and the checks on the exams are foolproof in the sense that no allowances are given for cheating or for papers being smuggled out ahead of time. While the number of candidates sitting the Cambridge exam may be low, the candidates almost universally belong to the most elite sections of our stratified society.

Cheating is, of course, a common practice in local exams, sadly enough. The discovery that the cheating scandal is immaculately organised at the elite level via a website traditionally available through a gaming website, but now also accessible through various chat and social media forums, with a rate for papers that the candidate or his or her parents wish to obtain, is an astonishing example of efficiency and good business.

The reality is that many parents encourage their children to cheat to obtain high grades and, subsequently, scholarships and places at top universities both within and outside the country. The problem is that those who have studied hard and would have earned very good grades on merit are deprived of the opportunity to reach the top of the ladder. The issue is currently being examined by the Cambridge Syndicate and its findings will be of interest. It is unclear what it will do to close down the racket, or whether it can succeed, but we can say that the standing and merit of the exam have vanished for good. There will always be suspicion and perhaps the merit once associated with that exam taken at elite schools across the country by those who will occupy top posts in our system of reserving, the best posts for the privileged will never go away.

We need to return to some degree of merit, at the very least, without delay. Without it, there is no way to determine who is running which department or which post, or to achieve any true understanding of what is to be achieved

There are, of course, other issues regarding merit in the country. We know that this applies in politics, where rigged elections and the use of wealth or nepotism can be major factors in helping candidates succeed. There have been many write-ups about rigging in elections held over the past few years and the rigging systems used in them. We cannot then even be sure that the people we have elected really deserve that post or the public servants who have been designated to run the country have earned their posts on the basis of merit or merely through their contacts or by cheating in the exam system. We do know that very few from backgrounds without privilege will pass these exams, whether in the centre or the provinces. And this does something terribly wrong, and it needs to be mended.

We need to return to some degree of merit, at the very least, without delay. Without it, there is no way to determine who is running which department or post, or to gain any true understanding of what is to be accomplished. Merit also means that the posts should be run for the people and not against them. The expenditure of large sums of money on exams at every level means that candidates feel some pressure to earn that money back for their parents or other benefactors who ‘lent’ them that sum, and on that strength, they cleared the exam with high grades. The same problem applies to many other sectors, including the service sector. And we do not have clarity on how many of those who drive various kinds of vehicles actually have a valid licence. The few reports that exist and data from the traffic police suggest this number is very low.

Merit is important because it provides a fair division within society and sets conditions under which only the best will move into top roles. We are struggling to achieve this at present. There is a complete breakdown of merit at every level, beginning early, when children are sometimes encouraged by their parents to cheat in primary school exams. There is simply no understanding that ethics are also part of society and necessary to move forward. They are also needed to ensure that, at the higher levels, truly competent people move into posts that determine how the state and its top institutions are run.

This is one of the reasons Pakistan has fallen behind other countries in the region in so many fields. It is now possible to buy even an MBBS degree if sufficient funds exist. And of course, if a PMDC degree cannot be paid for, the route is simply to gain admission to an extremely expensive private medical college and then use that as a conduit to become a doctor. Many of these colleges are run on the basis of very little merit and their products simply do not have the skills and competence that are sought for this job. The same is true of multiple other fields crucial to the proper working of society.

We need to think about merit as a concept and merit in theory. In some way or the other, it has to be restored in society so that we can move ahead and find the kind of competence it takes to run a country and all the areas that fall within it for the good level of leadership and the high competence that we know our people are capable of delivering if they are allowed to break away from the ugly hold of nepotism and elite capture.

The writer is a former editor of this newspaper. She has also served as joint director of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and remains a columnist and activist.