Taking the written exam is quite straightforward—just write and submit; since failing is difficult, passing becomes even easier. The consolation prize for merely passing is getting to sit for the viva exam, nothing more. If you prepare properly with understanding and put it to good use, you’ll get the job as the rightful reward for passing well. There’s less than a month left before the exam. What can be done in this short time? Let me offer some advice.
One. Stay away from coaching centers during this time, and avoid going out unless absolutely necessary. Most girls go to coaching to escape household chores, while boys go to treat girls to fuchka. It’s all about looking busy with preparation when there’s actually a lack of real preparation. Stay home and study as much as possible—at least 14-16 hours a day.
Two. It won’t hurt if you don’t take model tests at coaching centers. Even if you do, don’t evaluate yourself entirely based on test scores.
Three. If possible, delegate household tasks to someone else for this one month.
Four. Stay away from Facebook as much as possible. Don’t study in between Facebook sessions; rather, do a little Facebooking in between study sessions.
Five. Don’t inquire about how much others have covered. Focus on reading what you haven’t read yet.
Six. Say goodbye to questions that don’t stick in your memory even after repeated reading.
Seven. Those who are working should either give up their job or sleep for this month.
Eight. Don’t keep your mobile phone or laptop within reach when sitting down to study.
Nine. You can practice math, grammar, translation, and mental ability from 11 PM to midnight.
Ten. When you get tired of reading one subject, don’t force yourself to continue with the same subject. As a rest technique, switch to whatever subject feels good to read at that moment.
Eleven. Study Bangladesh and International Affairs less. Focus more on the other four subjects.
Twelve. If you assume you’ll somehow manage any subject in the exam hall without preparation, you’re living in a fool’s paradise.
Thirteen. Read all topics of all subjects at least once. If you can’t read thoroughly, at least skim through them.
Fourteen. Prepare your own suggestions; if possible, multiple sets. Don’t blindly follow someone else’s suggestions.
Fifteen. While preparing, keep in mind that you’re not preparing to get common questions, but to write from concepts and understanding.
Sixteen. Determine and write down the maximum time you should spend on each topic based on the question’s importance and marks.
Seventeen. Read repeatedly with highlighting. Write additional information in your books while reading.
Eighteen. There’s no time to read reference books. Buy a few market digests and read them very quickly.
Nineteen. There’s no such thing as an uncommon question. Don’t leave any question unanswered; even if you don’t know the answer, write something based on your understanding. If you have no understanding, write from imagination. If imagination fails, force yourself to imagine! Everyone becomes a cadre by making things up in the written exam. Use blue ink and ensure each page has at least one relevant diagram, map, quote, data, table, chart, or reference.
Twenty. Study short questions, notes, short notes, summaries, essence, elaboration, translation, grammar, etc., thoroughly. There’s no question of studying by taking notes.
Twenty-one. The most important topic in the written exam is translation. No matter how difficult, regularly translate editorials from various daily newspapers.
Twenty-two. When answering questions, marks will increase if you quote from various authors’ writings, newspaper columns and editorials, the internet, official websites of various organizations, relevant constitutional articles, and various references.
Twenty-three. Question selection is an important matter. It’s better to answer three questions worth 4+3+3=10 marks than one question worth 10 marks.
Twenty-four. Good handwriting is nice, but not having it isn’t a problem. You need to write very fast in the written exam. Try to write one page every 3-5 minutes on average.
Twenty-five. Write down 25-30 names of people who write on various contemporary issues in your diary. Briefly note what type of subjects each person writes about. This will be useful when giving quotations.
Twenty-six. Identify segments where candidates generally score low but higher scores are possible, and try to prepare yourself well in those segments to gain a competitive advantage.
Twenty-seven. For Bangladesh and International Affairs, while reading 4-5 papers online daily, notice which subjects are most relevant to the current context. Your answer sheet will stand out to examiners if you write with the help of various maps, data, charts, tables, reviews, original analysis, and their relevance to the contemporary context.
Twenty-eight. When answering questions, write in as many bullet points as possible, organizing into paragraphs. The first and last paragraphs should be the most attractive. Explain issues from various columnists’ perspectives and conclude with your own analysis toward the end. Include any comments or personal opinions if you have them.
Now I’ll discuss some subject-specific points.
Bengali: Focus more on grammar, elaboration (in 20 very relevant sentences), essence (in 2-3 simple, beautiful abstract sentences), and translation. Don’t make rule mistakes when writing letters. Increase your understanding of various contemporary issues for imaginative dialogues. Learn about at least 30 well-known Bengali books for book criticism. When writing essays, use mind-mapping to organize points and keep writing until an hour before the exam ends.
English: The key to doing well in English has two parts: One, no spelling mistakes. Two, no grammatical mistakes. Keeping these two things in mind, write in very simple language, and marks will come. Use IELTS reading techniques for comprehension. Practice grammar and usage extensively from some authentic books and digests. For summaries, try summarizing newspaper editorials and articles. For letters, look at the “Letters to the Editor” section of newspapers. Prepare suggestions keeping in mind that common questions won’t necessarily appear.
General Science and Technology: First, read the previous year’s questions and digest suggestions very well, taking sufficient time and reading several times. When preparing for science, don’t base your preparation on whether you’re a science student or not. If you can provide necessary diagrams, symbols, and equations in this section, your answer sheet will stand out from others.
Mathematical Reasoning: Don’t go to sleep without practicing some math every night. Don’t use shortcuts in math; show every step in detail. Don’t miss any side notes or relevant information. With a little understanding and study, you don’t need to be a science student to get full marks in math.
Mental Ability: The questions in this section will be easy but a bit tricky. You need to answer with a cool head, reading questions carefully, understanding them, and responding with full concentration. Along with digests, solve 3-4 IQ test books; if possible, practice a little on the internet. Prepare keeping in mind that you won’t get full marks in this section.
Bangladesh Affairs: Get a very good idea of what types of questions come up. Provide data from constitutional explanations, official websites of various organizations, Wikipedia, Banglapedia, National Web Portal, some international newspapers, etc. There’s no need to memorize the entire constitution. Understand and study the explanations of articles from which more questions come very well. You don’t need to quote constitutional articles verbatim.
International Affairs: You can search and study topics on Google. You’ll find answers to almost all questions on the internet. Read analytical comments and criticisms on various subjects from Wikipedia, Banglapedia, and official websites of various organizations. To do well in the new topic of problem-solving questions in this section, analyze the given issue or problem and write in bullet points what solutions might be possible considering various aspects, opinions of international analysts, and your own views. There’s no substitute for reading newspapers regularly to do well in this.
When preparing for the written exam, keep two things in mind: One, more important than deciding what to study is deciding what not to study. Two, there’s no need to memorize; it’s an art to forget sixty percent of what you think you’ve learned completely and properly utilize the remaining forty percent. Make very good use of these few days. Surely you’re not so foolish as to not give up eating and sleeping for just 21 days for a job you’ve decided to do comfortably for at least 30 years! Good luck!!
This article was published as the main feature of the ‘Chakri Ache’ page in Kaler Kantho on Wednesday, August 5th. The link to the article is given below: