Students of Islamic University (IU) staged a protest rally against a proposal to reduce the marks allocated to written examinations and increase viva voce marks in recruitment tests for government jobs in grades 11 to 20. They alleged that increasing the weight of viva examinations could create opportunities for nepotism, irregularities and corruption in the recruitment process.

The protestors gathered at Zia More on the campus around 10pm on Tuesday (September 8) and brought out a procession. The rally passed through several major roads on the campus before ending in a brief gathering in front of the university’s main gate.

The students chanted various slogans, including “No trade in the name of viva,” “Quotas went down that road, viva will go down the same road,” “Direct action,” “Direct action against viva,” “Direct action against viva and quotas,” “If you need alms, take alms, but free the meritorious,” and “Recommendations from uncles and influential relatives will not be tolerated.”

More than 100 students, including leaders and activists of different student organisations, took part in the protest.

The protesting students said reducing written-exam marks while increasing viva marks would create opportunities for nepotism and corruption in the recruitment process. They feared that such a move could undermine merit-based recruitment. They demanded the immediate cancellation of the proposal and called for a transparent, accountable and corruption-free recruitment process.

Iftikhar Uddin Mohammad Tamim, member secretary of the IU unit of Jatiya Chhatra Shakti, said the government had reduced the marks for written examinations and increased those for viva tests in recruitment exams.

“Through this, they essentially want to create opportunities for nepotism, recruitment trade and partisan appointments. Do not play with the rights of students in this way,” he said.

Referring to former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, Tamim said, “The last fascist Hasina also tried to play with the rights of students. She is now in Delhi. Now the decision is in your hands—where will you stand? We hope you will repeal this law soon and return the rights of students to them.”

Ismail Hossain Rahat, president of the IU unit of Islami Chhatra Andolan Bangladesh, said, “We do not believe that the BNP government would pass any law against students or against the mandate it received from them. If that happens, it would be the greatest mistake you could make.”

He said, “If someone has to pay Tk 1 million, Tk 2 million or Tk 3 million to secure a job, the damage is the same. One is the loss of money, while the other is prioritising money over merit and thereby harming meritorious candidates.”

He further said, “We do not want a farmer’s son to graduate and then be forced to return to farming, or a van puller’s son to graduate but, unable to enter a job because of a lack of money, be forced to start driving a van again. We do not want meritorious students to remain on the streets.”

He added that students are a source of power, strength and support for the government. “The government that can properly utilise and work with these students can transform the country,” he said.

Proposed Changes to Recruitment Rules

The proposed rules, approved at a meeting of the Administrative Development-Related Secretaries Committee at the Secretariat on Sunday, chaired by Cabinet Secretary Nasimul Gani, include major changes to the distribution of written and viva marks in recruitment examinations for government employees in grades 11 to 20.

For grades 11-12, the proposal seeks to increase viva marks from 10 to 50 and written marks from 90 to 100, while reducing the pass mark from 50 percent to 35 percent.

For grades 13-16, viva marks have been proposed to increase from 10 to 40, while written marks would be reduced from 90 to 60.

For grades 17-20, viva marks would increase from 10 to 25, while written marks would be reduced from 40 to 25.

The proposed changes have raised concerns among students because they would increase the importance of viva examinations compared with written tests. According to the students, this could create opportunities for nepotism, irregularities and corruption in the recruitment process.