Exams for public jobs: Govt to raise age limit to 32 years

The government yesterday decided to raise the maximum age for applying for public service jobs by two years to 32.

The interim government’s advisory council took the decision at a meeting chaired by Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus, according to a press release issued by the Cabinet Division.
The government also capped the number of times a candidate can take the Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) examinations at three, the press release said. There is currently no cap on the number of times candidates can sit for BCS exams.
Protesting jobseekers, however, rejected the government’s decision, threatening to stage fresh demonstrations.
Meanwhile, the government appeared firm on its decision.
The current age threshold for all to enter public service is 30. The limit is 32 years for the children and grandchildren of the freedom fighters.
For several years, graduates have been demanding that the government job entry age limit be increased to 35 years. They blocked the capital’s Shahbagh intersection during demonstrations on numerous occasions.
The protests intensified after the government on September 22 announced that it was not planning to increase the age limit.
It formed a review committee on September 30 after hundreds of jobseekers staged a massive demonstration in front of the chief adviser’s residence.
The committee had recommended raising the maximum age for applying for public service jobs to 35 years for men and 37 years for women.
The advisory council in yesterday’s meeting discussed the matter and approved an ordinance to fix the maximum age for direct recruitment in government, autonomous, semi-autonomous, statutory authorities, public non-finance corporations and self-governing agencies.
The maximum age limit for entry into all cadres of the BCS and other government jobs has been set at 32 years, according to the Cabinet Division press release.
For autonomous and semi-autonomous organisations, the respective recruitment rules will be applied with necessary adaptations.
In the case of defence services and law enforcement agencies, their respective recruitment rules will remain in effect, it said.
Additionally, based on this ordinance and the authority given by Section 59 of the Government Employment Act, 2018, the Ministry of Public Administration will amend the Bangladesh Civil Service (Age, Qualification, and Examination) Rules, 2014.
Ariful Islam, one of the protesters, said the commission to review their demands had recommended 35 years for men and 37 years. Even the political parties, including BNP, made similar suggestions, he said.
“We don’t accept this decision,” he told The Daily Star last night.
He said they would announce fresh protest programmes soon.
Asked whether the age bar will be changed again if the protests resume, Environment Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan said the government would not rethink the decision.
“The decision won’t be changed. There can be discussions. And there are counter-protests as well,” she said during a press briefing at the Foreign Service Academy.
Giving justification for the age limit, she said many students are interested in BCS exams and if the age limit is increased beyond 32 years, a candidate would take the exams repeatedly, limiting the scope for others.
There are also some economic issues, said the adviser.
About the commission’s recommendations, Rizwana said it had discussed the matter with the protesters before filing its report.
“Upon receiving [the recommendations], we tried to analyse the economic implications of the demands for the government. Considering all the aspects, we felt that there is no chance of going above the age of 32.”
She also said the council of advisers did not discuss raising the retirement age bar.
Asked about capping the number of BCS exams a candidate can take, Rizwana said, “A candidate can sit for the BCS exams three times. Three means three.”