Government jobs: Stalled recruitment tests vex jobseekers

Several recruitment tests for different government posts, including the Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) examinations, have been postponed since mid-July, causing concerns among the jobseekers already frustrated by a backlog of tests.
Officials have cited the July uprising and subsequent change in government, and floods as reasons behind the postponement of the exams while uncertainty over the tests, along with high application fees, has further put the jobseekers into a tight spot.

Rabiul Alam, a student of Dhaka University, said he has to move to a mess as the result of his master’s examination has been published. It will increase his monthly cost. “My father will retire next year. I can’t even focus on my studies amid all the uncertainty,” he added.
“Meanwhile, there is no big job circular. Recruitment tests have been deferred one after another,” he added.
Rabiul took part in the anti-discrimination student movement, which ultimately toppled the Sheikh Hasina administration, demanding equal opportunities in government job recruitment. Now the stalled exams have instilled a feeling in him that their demands are being ignored even after achieving victory in the movement. 
“The demands of those who waged the student movement are getting the least importance,” Rabiul told The Daily Star.
The examinations for multiple posts at six institutions were to be held on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, but they have been put over.
“Some jobseekers, including leaders of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, wrote to us to halt the exams as they could not prepare amid the movement. We contacted the higher authority in the government and they advised us to postpone the exams,” a senior official at one institution told The Daily Star.
The official, who requested not to be named, could not say when the tests will be held.
The Daily Star tried to reach Sarjis Alam and Hasnat Abdullah, coordinators of the student movement, for comments on the letter to the institution. None of them responded to our calls or text messages.  
Sarjis, however, said in a Facebook post on September 17, “All recruitment tests, including those of the PSC, have to be held at the soonest. A job means a dream of a family and its future.”
The Public Service Commission (PSC) deferred the 46th BCS written tests for compulsory and post-related subjects on August 25, three days before the beginning of the exams, citing “unavoidable circumstances”.
A total of 10,638 candidates were supposed to sit for the written exams against 3,140 posts.
The PSC also delayed the viva voce of the 44th BCS, which was scheduled to commence on September 1. A total of 11,732 candidates passed the 44th BCS written examinations and they are vying for 1,710 posts.
In addition, the PSC held back the 1st half-yearly departmental examination of BCS cadre and non-cadre officers and the practical examination for the post of personal officers of the Parliament Secretariat on September 15 to a later time.
When asked about the postponement of the exams, two PSC officials told The Daily Star on the condition of anonymity that there is a “kind of unstable situation going on”.
“The PSC is waiting for direction or go-ahead from the government. The activities of the PSC will be normal once we get the go-ahead from the government,” said a PSC member.
Sirajul Islam Moon, an alumnus of Jahangirnagar University, said he qualified for the 44th BCS viva voce after three previous attempts.
“Now I’m frustrated over the postponement several times. My family is also disappointed. It is unbearable to be in such uncertainty at this stage.”
The written exams for recruitment to nine posts of state oil-gas corporation Petrobangla subsidiaries scheduled for September 20 and 27 were the latest to be deferred last Tuesday. Petrobangla also cited “unavoidable reasons” for delaying the exams in a press release.
Talking to The Daily Star, Zanendra Nath Sarker, the chairman of Petrobangla, said they took the decision upon request from candidates due to the recent flood situation in various regions.
Petrobangla is planning to resume the tests by mid-October, Zanendra said.
The recruitment test for the director post (Grade-9) of Sadharan Bima Corporation and the MCQ exams for the assistant manager’s post, both scheduled for September 6, were deferred under special circumstances. A new exam schedule will be sent to the candidates through a notification and SMS.
The written exams for the posts of cashier cum computer operator and computer operator at the Medical Education and Family Welfare Division have been delayed.
Rahela Rahmat Ullah, senior assistant secretary to the division, told this newspaper that new dates for the postponed exams have not been fixed yet.
Police’s Special Branch deferred the written exams for the recruitment of computer operators, stenographer cum computer operators and clerical posts to be held on Friday. New dates for these exams will be announced later, according to a notification.
Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation has also put off the written exams for posts of six categories from the 9th to the 13th grade. About 18,000 candidates have applied for the 35 posts.
Contacted, General Manager (DFO) of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation Mohammad Shawkat Osman told this newspaper that a new date for the exams has not been fixed yet.
Also, the oral examination for the post of assistant general manager at Palli Bidyut Samity under the Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board was postponed on Thursday.
“No job circular has been issued since the fall of the Hasina government. Meanwhile, all the recruitment tests have been delayed instead. Now I have to leave the dormitory with an empty pocket and no tuition,” said Khokan Sarker, a Dhaka University student who recently completed his master’s in mass communication and journalism.