Languishing in BCS LOOP
Imam Hossein had applied for the 41st Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) exams in November 2019, just months after completing his master's from Jagannath University.
He prepared himself well and passed the MCQ-based preliminary test, held in March 2021. He also came out successful in the written test held later that year, and started waiting for the viva. The viva, held two years later in 2023, went well and he passed the final examination.
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But Imam, who studied political science, could not make it to the cadre service, one of the most coveted jobs in the country. He was recommended for a non-cadre post instead. But he could not get one, as jobs in non-cadre posts are subject to requisitions from different ministries.
"The long delay took a heavy toll on me. It cost me more than four years of my life. I cannot apply for a government job anymore because I have crossed the 30-year age limit by this time," said Imam, who recently joined a primary school after waiting for several months for a non-cadre post.
Such long delays at every stage of BCS exams -- starting from the circular to gazette notification -- are not isolated incidents.
The Public Service Commission (PSC) took four years and four months to complete the 41st BCS exams.
The 42nd exams were a special one held in February 2021 only for the doctors to tackle the medical emergency during the Covid-19 pandemic. From circular to gazette notification, it was completed within one year. Nearly 4,000 doctors were appointed through that special BCS.
The 43rd BCS took three years and one month to publish the final results. The public administration ministry is yet to publish the gazette notification of this exam.
As per PSC's Annual Report 2020, the constitutional body prepared a roadmap to complete the whole process in a year, but the roadmap remains on paper. Meantime, government jobseekers continue to lose up to four years of their career.
PSC Chairman Sohorab Hossain evaded a direct reply about the delay, and said, "We tried to complete the process within a year, but we couldn't do it."
According to the roadmap, it is possible to complete all the work from publishing the advertisements to the final recommendations in 12 months, he said.
However, successful candidates too face delays even after publication of the final results. They need to go through medical tests and security clearance from various agencies, including the police. It takes nearly one year before publication of the gazette.
WHY THE DELAY
PSC members say they have a limited workforce. As a result, they rely on others to carry out the bulk of their work, including preparing and printing question papers, evaluating answer scripts and holding viva.
"One reason for the delay is late submission of the answer scripts by the examiners [university teachers and bureaucrats]. Also, a significant number of scripts go to third examiners, causing further delay in the publication of the written test results," a PSC member told The Daily Star.
The PSC introduced the provision for double examiners in 2018 to ensure "transparency" in assessing the answer scripts. The provision requires each answer sheet to be examined by two teachers of public universities. The system took effect from the 38th BCS exam.
The following year, the PSC introduced another system, requiring a third examiner to evaluate the scripts in case there is a 20 percent difference in the marks awarded by the two examiners.
In the case of the 44th BCS, more than 9,000 exam papers out of the 15,708 were evaluated by third examiners because of such differences in the marks awarded by the first two examiners, PSC members said.
"Despite our request for timely submission of the answer sheets, many examiners do not do so citing various excuses. Since they are respected people, we cannot take any strict action …. PSC is in trouble because of these examiners," one PSC member said.
Apart from public university teachers, some bureaucrats are also involved in evaluating the answer scripts. They examine the current affairs section only.
Three teachers of two public universities who evaluated BCS answer scripts over the years said public university teachers are already very busy with their regular lectures, examinations and exam paper evaluations. Many of them also have administrative roles. As a result, they neither have the time nor the motivation to evaluate the BCS exam papers.
Also, the remuneration that the PSC offers for the job is so low that teachers show little interest in evaluating the papers, they added.
On average, each teacher gets 100-120 papers.
IN A FIX
The Daily Star spoke to 15 candidates recommended in various cadres in the 43rd BCS. Each of them said the exams involve considerable expenses, including for coaching, accommodation, food and travel.
The long delay only adds to the financial pressure and puts them in a fix as they cannot make a decision about their career until the process completes.
"I cannot suddenly change course and look for other jobs even though the PSC is taking a long time. If the results came out faster, I could have made a final decision," said Mahmudul Hasan, a jobseeker in the 43rd BCS.
As his wait continues, both his house rent and food cost have gone up.
"I cannot leave the mess either, as it would hamper my studies. It is difficult to cover the cost with my earnings from private tuition," said Mahmudul.
WHAT TO DO
Ali Imam Mazumder, a former cabinet secretary, said the introduction of the provision for double examiners, especially when there is a shortage of qualified examiners in public universities, is a big factor behind the backlog.
According to him, the provision is "apparently justified" but only a few public universities have teachers qualified enough to evaluate BCS answer scripts.
The time taken for police verifications and medical examinations is also way too long, he said.
Currently, it takes about a year to complete police verifications and medical examinations.
"It can be done in two to three months. It used to be like that. That system should be restored. All that is required is to verify whether the candidate is facing a criminal case," the former secretary said.
According to him, the current verification also unnecessarily includes background checks and political affiliations of the relatives of the candidates. Also, many recommended candidates even get rejected because of the political affiliations of their relatives and family members.
"In India, candidates are offered jobs upon recommendation while the verification continues. Moreover, they do not focus on other things [political affiliations of relatives]," he said.
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