Yangchen C Rinzin

More than 300 graduates, who registered for Bhutan Civil Service Examination (BCSE) 2020, withdrew from the preliminary examination (PE) held yesterday. 

A total of 4,399 graduates appeared the PE, which includes 164 graduates who appeared the PE in Mongar. 

Royal Civil Service Commission (RCSC) arranged an additional venue for the PE given the Covid-19 pandemic and considering the health safety protocols and convenience of candidates. 

An official from RCSC said those who withdrew gave various reasons. “While some said they were not ready for the exam, some had personal problems, some got job, and some graduates were not confident of vacancies available with a slim chance of getting through BCSE.” 

A total of 5,339 graduates have registered for BCSE 2020 against 936 vacancies in various fields of which, 2,730 are female, and 2,609 are male. This is an increase of 1,071 candidates compared to 4,268 candidates in 2019. 

However, Bachelors in Education (B.Ed) and MBBS graduates will not have to appear in the preliminary examination.

Post Graduate Diploma (PGD) in Public Administrative category had 1,400 graduates sitting for the exam, the highest registered candidates for 45 slots. A total of 904 graduates registered for PGD for 35 slots in Financial Management category. 

The registered candidates are based on the information submitted to RCSC during e-registration. Graduates could change the category while verifying documents for the main examination.

A total of 1,180 graduates registered for the technical category against 247 vacancies announced. More than 200 graduates have registered for civil engineering followed by information and communication technology, electrical and electronics engineering/power engineering. 

Vacancies for technical service, however, is subject to change depending on the number of candidates qualifying the PE, availability of the field of studies or specialisation and verification of documents, according to RCSC officials.

Meanwhile, a total of 806 have registered for PGD in Education against 283 vacancies. At the same time, a total of 579 graduates from two Colleges of Education have registered for education service against 321 vacancies for B.Ed with the highest vacancy in general subject and Dzongkha. 

RCSC has tentatively scheduled the main examination on January 10 and 11. “We hope that the situation will improve and that we would be able to conduct the exam,” an official said. 

RCSC had earlier postponed the BCSE examination owing to the pandemic. BCSE is usually conducted in November and PE in August.