CSS Exams to be Held in Urdu from Next Year: Lahore High Court

In a rather sudden development, Lahore High Court (LHC) has ordered that CSS exams (Central Superior Services examination) will be taken in Urdu language from next year i.e. 2018.

Advocate Saif Ur Rehman has filed a petition in LHC asking the court to publish a written judgement ordering the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) to conduct its CSS Exams in Urdu.

Justice Atir Mehmood has today taken a decision on the petition and ordered that the examination should now be taken in Urdu language. The order says that this should be done in line with the Supreme Court of Pakistan’s decision last year.

The court remarked that due to the limited amount of time, the regulation cannot be enforced for the 2017 examinations which are due to be held next month. However, the examination should be conducted in Urdu from now on.

Read More: Urdu to Be Made Official Language of Pakistan – Supreme Court

On the other hand, it was previously reported that 98 percent of the candidates fail to clear the exam while 92 percent of CSS exam candidates fail in English language which makes little sense considering the main purpose of the examination is not to test the English language skills but the candidates’ authority on other fields of life including their degree subjects.

However, until the official language is switched to Urdu in all government departments, candidates passing these exams in Urdu would face far more trouble when they start civil service jobs. The general paperwork and official language needs to be strictly Urdu before the CSS candidates are chosen using the Urdu language exams.

The Supreme Court issued an order in 2015 asking all government dealings to be done in Urdu so that Urdu could become the official language of Pakistan. All federal government offices were to take steps in fulfilling the court’s order. The order was issued by a three member bench led by Chief Justice Jawad S. Khawaja and took into consideration several petitions on the matter asking the court to take action and make Urdu the official language of Pakistan as per the constitution of Pakistan.

He is the Chief Content Officer at ProPakistani. Reach out at aadil.s[at]propakistani.pk


      • Please ignore but the question should be rephrased as, “Any reason for being senseless?” or “Any reason for senselessness?” :)

        • Because the official language will remain English and “PAPPO” will never ever get the meaning of that document he or she will receive.

  • امتحان اردو میں اور انگلش والوں Ú©Ùˆ ترجیعی دی جائے Ú¯ÛŒ ?

  • This is going to shake and irk many who are already preparing for civil services exam as they aspire to participate.

    While I am all up for the option to be able to attempt the civil service exam in national language, but enforcing it to take away the option of doing it in English when it is preferred choice of the candidate is synonymous to bearing a hardline fundamentalist approach which will just catalyze the process of producing more fundamentalists and so on to making that mainstream. And also because flexibility should be the key to making effective and largely agreeable policies.

    The pre-requisite to enter a civil service exam is a bachelor’s degree, predominantly taught in English as a medium of instruction in 90% of the courses taught in most cases, and Urdu translations on newage and modern literature are second to none uptil now, still while we live in this world of globalization. Enforcing and Urdu only option we will be moving towards an unthoughtful and an emotional policy enforcement which is both irrational and shortsighted.

    When your national anthem is not in Urdu, your constitution is not in Urdu, the founder and the father of the nation barely knew enough Urdu to be able to write an essay. do 99% of the judicial paper work in English. Judiciary needs to bring in the change first

    • We can see our ministers and top executives struggling to communicate on global forums and making an absolute mockery of the nation’s diplomatic opportunities in almost all events that they participate, but these politicians turned office holders never had to earn any degrees to get on the job, the only degree they ever required to be there where they are being lobbying and capitalizing on nonissues to gain political following. Now imagine a scenario where the foreign service officials are no different after they can get into civil service through an Urdu exam, I am not saying all the people passing Urdu CSS will be same as that example portrays but there is still a large and haunting probability.

      • I love Urdu, but we got to work on building quality Urdu curriculum and effective Urdu conversion of modern courses that can be taught at university levels, only then can this be rational.
        For now, just add a provision that can let candidates opt from English or Urdu as they desire and be flexible on this rather than implying a hardliner fundamentalist approach.

        • Talking of hardline fundamentalism, good job sir on suppressing the valentine’s day but what about the enforcement of Quetta incident and Qazi Esa Fayiz report. Okey we get it, Judiciary at this point can only make enforcement on non-issues to protect its illusion of supreme privilege stay intact in the eyes of the masses.

          • Judiciary being a new protagonist to this age old “Urdu Dream” needs embrace Urdu wholeheartedly first and should also first let go of the bureaucratic barriers because judiciary is an institution where everyone should have an easy access beyond those untranslated “bureaucratic barriers”, which is an ongoing self-imposed artificial emergency like situation where the approach to a justice system for everyone including masses, rich to poor, educated and uneducated. The judiciary with all my respect, needs to stop being all lazy and digressed that it want to influence policies of other institutions based on the things they themselves have not yet embraced, and have a good focus at it making justice an easy access for all.

      • Stupid idea, definitely a leap in the wrong direction as usual. One has to admit that Urdu can’t replace English considering how the national language was ignored over the years. Time to admit that survival is with English and this be formally made official language. The latest move will only add to the vows of aspiring candidates.

  • There can’t be 2 languages. Demolish English from the scratch. Form a department that converts most important English and other language books in Urdu. We will surely rise as a united nation.

  • reason for those 92% can’t pass the ANGLISH exams: ONE JUST SIMPLY CAN’T RATTA-FY A LANGUAGE like we all do with other Subjects…….. :D
    P.S. teach these kids a good amount of quality English at lower grades so that they can use the language productively in their higher studies.

  • good decision. now students can write much and more according to their views and concepts.
    PAKISTAN ZINDABAAD

  • They shouldn’t restrict on one language.
    It should make an option for students weather they want to give css exam in Urdu or English.

    • Now this is really a good Idea between both ideologies. A mid way to satisfy all :) (y)


  • Get Alerts

    Follow ProPakistani to get latest news and updates.


    ProPakistani Community

    Join the groups below to get latest news and updates.



    >