Home ›› 11 Sep 2022 ›› Editorial
The results of the past few Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) competitive examinations conducted by the Public Service Commission (PSC) manifest that graduate and post-graduate degree holders from science backgrounds get the upper hand.
They are more fortunate to get jobs in coveted administration and foreign service. Now, the PSC is doing homework in scrutinizing the academic background of candidates to ensure that students from different strata get an equal opportunity in the selection process and thus wants to ensure an open playing field for students from different academic strata such as from arts and humanities or from any social science backgrounds.
The results of the 40th BCS revealed that physicians and engineers are ahead in getting desired cadres. The students with the technical background stood first among 15 cadres and fifty students from Bangladesh University and Engineering Technology [ BUET] got a chance in administration cadre.
The BCS circular for the 40th BCS was issued in August 2018 for the recruitment of 1,903 cadre officials. A total of 412,532 candidates applied for the preliminary examination but 327,000 [about 80 percent] candidates appeared in the preliminary exams; only a minor fraction of 6 percent qualified in the preliminary examination. Thus 20,277 candidates sat for the second tier of examination mainly in compulsory subjects and their preferred field of choice. About 50 percent [ 10,964] candidates passed the written exams. The PSC took the viva-voce examination of these 10,964 candidates and ultimately recommended 1,963 candidates for recruitment in different cadres against a total of 2,219 vacant posts. The whole exercise took more than two years.
The PSC is reviewing the structure of the question papers of several BCS examinations and observed that the questions leaned towards the science background students. Indeed, a student of science can answer questions on technical issues such as the Drake equation or a student of economics can explain the Marshall-Learner Condition, or a physician can explain the technical difference between different variants of Covid-19.
However, the preliminary questions are set in a way accessible to both humanities and science students; questions should never penetrate the domain obscure to general students. The evolving state of technology reached a stage where future job aspirants should be well equipped to deal with whether he/she is from a science or humanities background. The introduction of the single stream Secondary School Certificate examination by the government is a correct decision where students would get exposure both to basic science and humanities.
It is indeed a stupendous task for the PSC in conducting such a huge sequence of activities spanning over two years. The PSC may consider two options: first set a critical standard for the preliminary examination and changed the structure based more on reflective nature instead of rote learning. The preliminary exam may be divided into four separate sections:
The multiple choice type of questions in the area of mathematics, general science, reading comprehension, and international affairs. Reading comprehension is the new area where students will be assessed on their primary understanding of both English and Bangla.
Two passages from any standard English textbook or by a foreign author or from a standard weekly such as the Economist may be given for understanding the subject matter both in Bangla and English. Questions will be followed by MCQ but in a way that sheds little difference in terms of correct answers on the possible choices. Candidates in every batch would experience different passages and question setters need to work hard to design such questions; always creative by nature. The questions should follow the format of the Graduate Record Examination [GRE], a standardized test that many universities in the United States advise students to submit for post-graduation admission with financial support. PSC should constitute a team of question setters so that candidates always get new strings in question,
A subject on language skills may be designed in lieu of separate English and Bangla compulsory subjects and would be designed to test the candidate's articulation skills, and how dexterously a candidate can express himself/herself in both English and Bangla. The language test constitutes two gems; translation from Bangla to English and from English to Bangla, a reading comprehension test, and an essay of reflective nature both in Bangla and English. It is unfortunate that many students could not correctly write in English or in Bangla when they sit for the exams of their preferred choice. It is also unfortunate that candidates and many question setters rely on the guidebooks available in the Nilkhet market.
As a question paper moderator of international affairs in the preliminary examinations [20 marks] for a few batches, I observed that many question setters copy questions from guidebooks. I also observed many students in international affairs [one of the compulsory subjects] comfortably answer without reflection from the guidebook available in the Nilkhet market. In many instances, the answer revealed that students are writing from a prepared answer. Candidates should invest a few minutes in structuring the answer before starting to write the answer. It is more important to consider the contents and acumen rather than counting the pages to rationalize a good mark.
PSC is also working on the restructuring of the viva-voce examinations. Indeed, the marks allocated on the basis of consensus may be biased and could favor certain candidates. The new norm is based on pragmatic reasoning but the variation or the dispersion among the evaluators is to be properly weighed in assigning the final mark.
The basic purpose of selecting candidates for any career progression job is to test the creativity of the incumbents. A nation may be crippled when guiding and selection criteria are based on rote learning. Unfortunately, rote learning in many instances rules the selection game, and students enrolling in public universities are more interested to get a job in the BCS instead of investing time in their basic subjects.
The writer, is a former Member, Directing Staff, Development and Economics Division, Bangladesh Public Administration Training Center at Savar, Dhaka. He can be contacted at mirobaidurr7@ gmail.com
