The pass rate in this year’s Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and equivalent examinations -- 93.58% -- is a new record in the history of education in Bangladesh, coming as it does despite the Covid-19 pandemic that delayed the public exam by many months.
Until now, 2014 had seen the highest ever pass rate of 92.67%. This year’s overall pass rate is 10.71% higher than last year’s 82.87%, according to government data.
This year, the general education boards saw a 94.08% pass rate, the madrasah board 93.22%, and the technical education board 88.49%.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday unveiled the SSC and equivalent exam results and inaugurated the distribution of free textbooks for students across the country through joining the event virtually from Ganabhaban in Dhaka.
Later, Education Minister Dipu Moni shared the details of the results at a press briefing at Bangabandhu International Conference Center.
A total of 2,240,395 examinees from 29,035 institutions appeared in the exams this year and 2,096,546 of them passed.
The results of 11 education boards were made available to students via a govt-run online portal and SMS on mobile phones.
However, anyone wishing to have the results re-examined will be able to apply from December 31 to January 8.
According to the Education Ministry, some 1,792,312 students sat for the exams under nine general education boards, 292,569 in the Dakhil exam under the Madrasah Education Board, and 155,514 appeared for vocational exams under the Bangladesh Technical Education Board.
Although the exams usually begin in the first week of February every year, it was not possible to take the tests on time this year as educational institutions were closed for almost a year and a half due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
This year’s exams were held between November 14 and 23. The exams were held with short syllabuses on three elective subjects on a group basis. Compulsory subjects will be evaluated based on results from previous public exams.
Girls ahead of boys
As many as 183,340 students achieved the GPA 5 this year, which is 8.18% of the total number of students who passed and 47,442 more than last year’s GPA 5 holder.
Among this year’s GPA 5 holders, 103,578 were girls and 79,762 were boys.
Of the total number of examinees, 1,058,628 boys and 1,037,918 girls cleared the exams under the 11 education boards
But the girls outshone the boys with a pass rate of 94.50%. The pass rate of the boys was 92.69%.
Science students at the top
Of the three groups under the nine general education boards, science students secured the highest pass rate of 94.88% -- which is about 20% higher than last year.
Business studies students posted the second-highest pass rate -- 94.96, which was 83.75% last year.
The humanities group came up third, with 94.11% of students passing the exam. This group’s pass rate was 76.39% last year.
Mymensingh board ranks first
With a 97.52% success rate, Mymensingh Education Board secured the top spot among the 11 general boards.
Sylhet Board came in second with a 96.78% pass rate, followed by Comilla Board with 96.27%.
Of the other boards, Dhaka saw a pass rate of 93.15%, Rajshahi 94.71%, Jessore 93.09%, Barisal 90.19%, Dinajpur 94.80%, and Chittagong 91.12%.
Apart from a pass rate of 93.22%, the Madrasah Board also saw 14,313 students bagging the GPA 5, which is almost double compared to last year.
100% success in 3,023 institutions
Meanwhile, 5,496 educational institutions across the country saw all their candidates passing the exams. Last year, 3,023 institutions had seen a cent percent pass rate.
Of the 5,496, 233 institutions are under the Dhaka Board, 398 under Rajshahi, 355 under Comilla, 255 under Jessore, 54 under Chittagong, 90 under Barisal, 185 under Sylhet, 493 under Dinajpur, and 316 under Mymensingh Board.
Some 2,969 institutions are under the Madrasah Board and 148 under the Technical Education Board.
On the other hand, no student passed at 18 institutions, compared to last year’s 104.
A total of 398 students of nine foreign centres also passed this year’s exams with a 95.67% pass rate.