|| Desk Report: Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir has strongly opposed a proposed increase in viva voce marks for recruitment to government jobs in grades 11 to 20, describing the move as a potential threat to merit-based recruitment and alleging that it could create scope for political influence in public service appointments.In a joint statement issued on September 8, 2026, the organisation's central president Nurul Islam and secretary general Sibgatullah called for the immediate withdrawal of what they described as a “discriminatory” recruitment regulation.According to the statement, the proposed rules would significantly increase the weight of oral examinations in several grades. For grades 17 to 20, written and oral examinations would carry equal marks—25 each. For grades 11 and 12, the proposed distribution would be 100 marks for the written test and 50 for the viva, while grades 13 to 16 would have 60 marks for the written examination and 40 for the viva.Shibir leaders claimed that increasing the weight of viva examinations could undermine the importance of candidates' performance in written tests and potentially disadvantage a large number of qualified job seekers.They alleged that the decision was being justified on the grounds of preventing proxy candidates and examination fraud, but argued that increasing viva marks was not an appropriate solution to those problems.“The recruitment process should maintain a reasonable balance between written and oral examinations,” the leaders said, according to the statement. They also argued that modern technology, stronger monitoring and improved examination security could be used to prevent cheating and other forms of malpractice without giving excessive weight to oral examinations.The organisation further claimed that more than 65 percent of government employees fall within grades 11 to 20, meaning that any change to the recruitment system in these grades could affect a very large number of young people seeking public-sector employment.The Shibir leaders went beyond the recruitment rules and accused the government of attempting to expand political influence across various state institutions.They alleged that appointments in local government bodies, district administration and the Secretariat had in some cases prioritised political affiliation over merit and qualifications. They also criticised appointments to universities, banks, insurance companies, the judiciary and autonomous institutions, alleging that politically loyal individuals were being favoured over competent professionals.The organisation compared what it described as these practices with those of the previous government, alleging that the country was again moving towards excessive politicisation of state institutions.These allegations were made by the organisation in its political statement and could not, on the basis of the information provided, be independently verified.Shibir called for the immediate cancellation of what it termed the “controversial and anti-merit” regulation. It demanded a recruitment system that is fully transparent and primarily based on written examinations.The organisation also urged the government to examine recruitment practices in developed countries and modernise Bangladesh's public-service recruitment system to ensure that merit and qualifications are properly assessed.The statement framed the issue as part of a broader demand for a society free from discrimination and based on merit, linking the recruitment debate to the aspirations associated with the July uprising.The controversy highlights a longstanding concern among job seekers in Bangladesh: how to balance written examinations, which can provide a standardised assessment of knowledge, with oral examinations, which can assess communication skills and other qualities but may be perceived as more vulnerable to subjective evaluation.Any final change to the recruitment rules will therefore be closely watched by millions of young Bangladeshis competing for limited government positions.