Pakistan’s Catholic Board of Education has launched a campaign aimed at getting more young Catholics into the country’s Public Service, while admitting that the education received in some of its schools was not helping.
It comes after classes organised by the Lahore Archdiocese last year to prepare 40 Catholics for the country’s Central Superior Services (CSS) examination ended with 35 giving up before the sessions were completed.
Still, 12 did appear for the CSS held in February. None passed.
One applicant, 26-year-old Sana Komal said it was hard preparing for the exams while working for more than eight hours a day.
“Studying for three hours, three days a week, wasn’t enough,” Ms Komal said.
Like her, most of the Christians aspiring for the Public Service have full-time jobs and were appearing for the competitive examination for the first time.
“We were only taught six compulsory subjects. There was not enough guidance for optional subjects,” Ms Komal said.
Historian and academic, Yaqoob Khan Bangash said the educational standard of Catholic schools in Pakistan had been declining for at least two decades.
“The gap is widening between middle and upper-class Christians,” Dr Bangash (pictured) said.
He said many well-educated Christians had moved out of the country while those left behind struggled to meet the minimum requirements to qualify for the competitive examination.
“Illiteracy is also a huge problem among young Christians who can only hope for a miracle,” Dr Bangash said.
However, Chief Executive of the Catholic Board of Education, Asher Javed said he was confident the revised campaign would be more successful.
“We have hired successful CSS alumni and lawyers and the sessions are fully subsidised so as many people as possible can afford to take them,” Mr Javed said.
“We have registered several students for the next CSS session,” he said.
Islamabad, 8 October 2021
