BCS viva with refreshment

The viva voce for the 38th batch of Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) examinations is being conducted in a friendly atmosphere, according to a newspaper report. The Public Service Commission (PSC) offers a candidate water, biscuit and tea so that s/he enjoys a friendly atmosphere while facing the viva. This is indeed a good step. Other offices including the non-government entities should make similar arrangements for friendly job interview, as a modern concept.

The PSC's initiative for making the viva process more comfortable will hopefully contribute to recruiting good officers. However, the candidates who are interviewed later, benefit from knowing the trend of questions being asked by the viva board. We also think, allocation of higher marks for viva is not a just system since nervous candidates may lose and the provision allows the board members to use too much discretion. We urge the PSC authorities to reduce marks for the viva voce and also some certain arrangement to ensure that the candidates who appear later cannot take advantage of questions already asked during the interview with their contestants.

Zahidul Islam, Lalmatia,

Dhaka