Female students have continued to outperform their male counterparts in the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and equivalent exams, securing higher pass rates and GPA grades for the last five years.
Educationists have said that it has already been proven that if equal opportunities are provided, girls can also achieve great success.
They urged the government to ensure the removal of all kinds of obstacles to make the path to higher education easier.
Out of 2,013,597 examinees, 1,672,153 students successfully passed the examination.
Among them, 1,024,803 were female students and 988,794 were male students.
Girls outnumbered boys by 59,047, with a pass rate of 84.47% for females and 81.57% for males, marking a 2.90 percentage point difference.
Among the GPA-5 holders, 83,353 are male, and 98,776 are female students.
The Jessore board leads in pass rates.
The average pass rate in the remaining boards is 92.32%. The overall pass rates in the nine other education boards are: 83.92% in Dhaka, 89.13% in Barisal, 82.80% in Chittagong, 79.23% in Comilla, 78.43% in Dinajpur, 89.26% in Rajshahi, 73.35% in Sylhet, and 85.00% in Mymensingh.
According to the results sheet, a total of 163,845 students achieved GPA-5 under General Education Boards, while 14,206 Dhakil students obtained the grade under the Madrasah Education Board, and the number of vocational GPA-5 achievers under the Technical Board stands at 4,078.
Of them, 98,776 were girls, and 83,353 were boys.
Comparison of pass rate and GPA-5 between girls and boys
In 2023, a total of 844,736 girls secured GPA-5, with a pass rate of 81.88%, while 796,404 boys secured GPA-5, with a pass rate of 78.87%.
Previously, 148,446 girls secured GPA-5 In 2022, with a pass rate of 87.71%, while 121,156 boys secured GPA-5, with a pass rate of 87.16%.
In 2021, a total of 103,578 girls secured GPA-5, with a pass rate of 94.50%, while 79,762 boys secured GPA-5, with a pass rate of 92.69%.
A total of 70,144 girls secured GPA-5 In 2020, with a pass rate of 84.10%, while 65,754 boys secured GPA-5, with a pass rate of 81.63%.
In 2019, a total of 53,484 girls secured GPA-5, with a pass rate of 83.28%, while 52,110 boys secured GPA-5, with a pass rate of 81.13%.
Why has the number of GPA-5s dropped?
Around 83.04% of students passed this year's Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and equivalent tests, which is 2.65 percentage points higher than last year's pass rate of 80.39%.
Meanwhile, the number of students achieving GPA-5 has decreased in the SSC for two consecutive years. As many as 182,129 students who sat for this year's SSC and equivalent exams secured a grade point average (GPA) of 5, slightly lower than last year's figure. Of this year's GPA 5 holders, 98,776 are female students and 83,353 are male.
Last year, a total of 183,578 students achieved GPA 5, indicating a reduction of 1,449 GPA-5 achievers compared to this year's figure. This decline follows a previous peak of 269,602 students achieving GPA-5 in 2022.
When questioned about the reason for the decrease in GPA-5, Dhaka Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board Chairman Prof Tapan Kumar Sarkar stated, "We conducted exams with a shorter syllabus for a few years during covid-19. Consequently, GPA-5 naturally increased." However, he noted that last year, the figure halved, indicating a decrease of only 1,500 GPA-5 achievers. He emphasized that the decrease does not appear significant, especially considering the lower number of candidates this year compared to last year.
The distribution of GPA-5 achievers among the boards is as follows: Dhaka Board: 49,190 (22,374 boys, 26,816 girls), Barisal Board: 6,145 (2,630 boys, 3,515 girls), Chittagong Board: 10,823 (5,073 boys, 5,750 girls), Comilla Board: 12,100 (5,264 boys, 6,836 girls), Sylhet Board: 5,471 (2,616 boys, 2,855 girls), Dinajpur Board: 18,105, Mymensingh Board: 13,197, Rajshahi Board: 2,874, Jessore Board: 20,760, Madrasa Education Board: 14,206, Technical Education Board: 4,081.
The SSC and equivalent examinations for this year commenced on February 15 and concluded on March 12. Typically, the results are published within 60 days of the exams' completion. A total of 2,013,597 students appeared for the SSC and equivalent examinations under the 11 education boards.
