NEED ANALYSIS OF CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS TRAINING IN COMPETITIVE EXAMINATIONSYOUTH ASPIRANTS

Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducts a multistage Civil Services Examination (CSE) for the selection of administrative officers which demands critical thinking (CT) at every stage. Not only for the examination but in their career also officers need CT skills. The present study was undertaken for UPSC CSE aspirants to find out need for training to enhance critical thinking in them. The sample was 315 in which female aspirants - 105, Male aspirants - 210, and all appeared for UPSC CSE at least once. A teacher made test comprising ten questions containing five questions each of knowledge of CT and need of training to enhance CT was administered for data collection. Subjects were to respond in binary way i.e. Yes or No to each question. Data was analysed on the basis of background of aspirants like rural or urban, technical or non-technical graduation and school medium. Findings revealed that aspirants having high knowledge about critical thinking showed high need for training to enhance CT. Aspirants having low knowledge about critical thinking showed low need for training to enhance CT. 238 out of 315 aspirants (76%) feel high need for CT enhancement training, 62 out 315 aspirants (20%) feel medium need for CT enhancement training and 15 out of 315 aspirants (4%) feel low need for CT enhancement training.