Although the Public Service Commission (PSC) has taken initiative to complete the Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) examination every year, it has not been successful in doing so. More than the Covid pandemic, their initiative has been hampered by the negligence and indifference of those responsible for checking the written exam papers.
Prothom Alo reported on 22 August that the written exam of the 41st BCS ended on 7 December last year. The result of the exam is still pending after nine months due to irresponsibility of the examiners.
The PSC found evidence of negligence against 318 examiners. Teachers of public universities and colleges have been given the responsibility of evaluating BCS exam papers.
Government officials also evaluate some papers, though they are few in number. The serious slipups found in the assessment of the 41st BCS written exams are not only alarming, but also an example of extreme irresponsibility on the part of the people concerned. As the records show, an examiner did not give marks for many answers while the given marks were not added to total in many cases.
Apart from this, there was such a difference in the assessment of the two examiners that the assessment had to be reevaluated by a third examiner. The PSC took a policy decision not to appoint a third examiner to avoid protracted proceedings. But this cannot be implemented if there is a huge difference in the assessment of two examiners. Apart from this, although there is a requirement to check the exam papers within two months, many examiners have taken over six months.
PSC is not able to maintain the schedule. PSC chairman Sohrab Hossain regretted the delay in publishing the results and asked the job seekers to be patient. How much patience will they have?
All in all, the process of evaluation of BCS exam papers is chaotic. It is not mandatory for any teacher to check PSC exam paper. It is completely voluntary and they also get honorarium for the task. We feel that those who cannot complete their task properly on time should not undertake this responsibility.
Due to the recession in the private job market, the youth who have obtained the highest degree are increasingly leaning towards BCS. Many job aspirants appear in BCS exam more than once. Do the examiners understand that the financial and emotional pressure increases if the result of the examination is delayed?
We hope that PSC will publish the results of 41st BCS written exam immediately. Also that they will be more careful in the future in selecting examiners for evaluation.
Those who are disinterested and not sincere in the assessment of the papers should be avoided and the responsibility should be given teachers who are voluntarily interested in the task. It is not at all impossible to find more qualified and responsible examiners if party bias is not taken into consideration.