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Rethinking the BCS Examination

MD. PARVEZ AKHTER and SK. NAHID NEAZY
THE existing procedure of Bangladesh Civil Service examination conducted by the Public Service Commission, whose credibility has now become a question to the nation, is now considered backdated, questionable, confusing and time-consuming. The whole thing has recently been politicised, with no ray of hope left for the students cherishing for a long time to join the BCS. Dreams of many deserving candidates are
being shattered by the flawed
process of the examination. Since 1972, no government or the PSC itself made any attempt to reform the system. The so-called preliminary test, old-fashioned written test, and viva-voce carrying 200 marks, encourage the evil- doers to manip-
ulate the process and make it to the final merit list. The system cannot be a good indicator to evaluate the candidates' merit or aptitude.
Meanwhile, the quota system is another stumbling block for the meritorious students. This is the right time to rethink on the issue and make necessary changes so as to keep the selection procedure above question and confusion.
Besides, if we look at the question papers of the preliminary test, we find some questions very ridiculous and irrelevant for a person who is going to be an officer in the Bangladesh Civil Service. We can give some examples from the 24th BCS preliminary objective test that was cancelled following leakage of question papers.
In set 3, the question number 33 is, Who is Bibi Pori? (Will this sort of information help the person who will
soon join the civil service?)
Question 7 -- On which date of the following did the bomb explosion take place at the island of Bali in Indonesia? (This sort of question only encourages the candidates to memorise)
Question 82 -- Handy means? a. comfortable b. useful c. convenient to handle or use. d. necessary (Both b and c are found in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
Question 84. Gullible means? a. foolish b. willing to believe anything or any one. C. simple d. easily deceived. (Both b and c are found in the Oxford Dictionary)
Like the preliminary test, the second phase, that is, the written test is also not above controversy. This test carries 800 marks of which 500 is allocated for compulsory subjects like Bangla, English, Math, General Knowledge (Bangladesh
affairs) and General Knowledge (International affairs) and 300 for optional subjects chosen by the candidates. These 300 optional marks have room for making discrimination among the candidates from various backgrounds. For example, candidates having a background of any subject belonging to the arts or social science faculty are a victim of this discrimination. If he or she is a student of English or international relations or sociology, he or she is likely to choose three optional qualitative subjects from psychology, history, social welfare, archaeology, urban and rural development, political science and Islamic studies. Needless to say, it is very unlikely for students of arts and social science backgrounds to take optional subjects like math, statistics, soil science, bio-chemistry and so on
which help candidates carry 70 to 90 per cent marks (if the candidate can do well in the exam). And these quantitative subjects are the trodden fields for the science graduates. On the other hand, it has been proved that it is very tough for the candidates of arts or social science background, having some qualitative subjects, to secure more than 65% marks on an average even if he or she can secure the highest mark in the examination. Does it not encourage only the science graduates to sit for the examination?
Viva voce, the third phase of the selection procedure, is another obstacle to making the recruitment process fair. As it carries 200 marks it can give an opportunity to some dishonest politicians, PSC members, or some powerful persons holding a high social stratum to resort to nepotism to manipulate the
entire process prior to making the final merit list for recruitment.
A few weeks back, a new initiative regarding a pre-requisite for the BCS examination has been introduced by the PSC. According to the new rule supposed to be effective from 25th BCS, proposed by the PSC, a candidate must have 45 per cent marks in both Bangla and English in the SSC and HSC to be eligible to sit for the preliminary test. Does 45 per cent marks in Bangla and English prove a person's language proficiency? Cannot a person having less than 45 per cent marks in those exams be able to improve the degree of his or her language proficiency during the higher studies?
Here we would like to recommend the following format for the BCS exam that the PSC can consider:
a. The conventional preliminary test and the time-consuming written test should be cancelled. Instead, only one examination consisting of the general subjects like language and communication (Bangla and English), general knowledge (Bangladesh affairs), general knowledge (international affairs) and mathematics should be held. Analytical ability and writing skill tests could be included in it so that students from all backgrounds get the same confidence to sit for the exam.
b. The whole examination has to be objective type except for the writing skill test so that with the help of technology the examination process can be conducted in a very short time to avoid unnecessary delay.
c. Marks have to be reduced for the viva voce to avoid nepotism and any sort of manipulation.
d. The existing quota system should be abolished completely.
e. The marks distribution of the proposed format of the exam could be as follows-
Language and communication (Bangla and English)- 30
General Knowledge (Bangladesh and international) 20 Mathematics- 10
Analytical Ability- 10
Writing Skill (Bangla and
English)- 30
Total-100
Viva Voce- 20
We hope the PSC and the government will consider the aforementioned recommendations so that the really meritorious and suitable candidates are encouraged to join the Bangladesh Civil Service.
The authors are Teaching Assistants, Dept. of English, North South University