My advice is dun join a stat board if you dun at least have a bachelor's degree.. cos there's no future for you in there with just a diploma.... You will simply end up slaving for those scholars and high-fliers to get their promotion while you end up with nothing... Your job duties will be monotonous.. your skills will be useless in the private sector...
Please by all means try go and further your studies and get yourself a degree... Try to at least get good honors... and then if you really really still love the civil service so much that you want to join... You can do so... At least you'll have a slightly better career path... though still not as good as the government scholars but definitely better than being just a diploma holder.... My advice is to earn some REALLY working experience in the private sector before joining... Gd luck..