The 41st Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) preliminary examination has begun at 10:00am on Friday amid concerns about the current Covid-19 situation in the country and calls for abiding by health guidelines strictly against the pandemic.
Around five lakh candidates are participating in the exam, despite a recent spike in coronavirus infection cases and fatalities.
On Thursday, Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s (DMP) Traffic Department requested candidates of the 41st BCS exams to come to their respective examination centres in Dhaka by 08:30am Friday, as vehicle movement on various important roads will remain closed for some times due to the movement of foreign VVIPs.
A number of foreign VVIPs are in Bangladesh on the occasion of the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the golden jubilee of independence. The government is holding a 10-day special programme to mark the two historic occasions.
The BCS examinees were requested to leave for exam venues with sufficient time in hand so that they do not get caught up in traffic, a press release from police said on Thursday.
DMP’s Traffic Division offered apologies for the inconvenience.
As many as 475,000 job seekers applied to sit for the 41st BCS exams, which is conducted by the Public Service Commission, against 2,166 posts. The preliminary exams are scheduled to be held in eight divisional cities.
Bangladesh Public Service Commission on January 13 announced the exam date. But Education Minister Dipu Moni on February 22 said that the exam would be postponed. However, the PSC on March 3 decided to organise the 41st BCS exam on March 19.
The High Court on March 16 dismissed a writ petition seeking postponement of the preliminary examination. It directed the PSC to conduct the examination in compliance with the health rules. Following the directive, the PSC circulated an 11-point guideline in this regard the same day.
Students are taking part in the two-hour preliminary examination from 10am to 12pm in Dhaka, Chattogram, Rajshahi, Khulna, Barishal, Sylhet, Rangpur and Mymensingh examination centres.
