Youth Development Recruitment Exam Postponed Amid Question Leak Allegations; Examinees Stage Protest in Capital

The recruitment examination for the post of Assistant Upazila Youth Development Officer under the Department of Youth Development was postponed at the last minute following allegations of a question paper leak. The announcement came moments before the examination was scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m. today, Saturday, October 10, leaving thousands of candidates who had travelled from across the country in difficulty. In protest, candidates blocked Manik Mia Avenue and Satmasjid Road in Dhaka.

The protesters said they had arrived at their examination centres on time and were ready to sit the test. However, invigilators informed them of the postponement just one minute before the scheduled start. Candidates expressed frustration over the timing of the announcement. One candidate who had travelled from Sylhet to take the examination at Siddheswari Girls’ College said the postponement was announced immediately before answer sheets were to be distributed, citing a question paper leak. Between approximately 11:15 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., candidates began gathering on the roads with their admit cards, bringing traffic on the affected routes to a halt.

According to sources familiar with the recruitment process, the examination was intended to fill 242 vacancies in the Grade 11 position and was scheduled to take place simultaneously at approximately 100 centres across Dhaka. Allegations of a question paper leak had begun circulating on social media on Friday night, along with portions of the purported question paper.

D M Atikur Rahman, Director of the Department of Youth Development’s Administration Wing, confirmed that evidence of the leak had been found. He said the decision to postpone the examination was made after a Facebook post came to the authorities’ attention. Portions of the questions shared in the post matched the original examination paper exactly, he added.

The authorities said a revised examination date would be announced shortly. Md Mazharul Haque, Assistant Director (Administration-5) of the department, stated that the new date would be announced within the next two to three days.