SSC pass rate declines, GPA-5 increases

The pass rate of the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and its equivalent exams this year has declined by 6.14% compared to the last year.

The pass rate is 87.44% this year while it was 93.58% last year, which was a record in the country's history.

This year, 1,994,139 students from 29,591 educational institutions sat for the SSC, Dakhil and SSC (vocational) exams at 3,789 centres. Of them, 1,743,619 students came out successful.

Last year, the SSC exams were limited to three elective subjects and a shortened syllabus due to the pandemic-led school shutdown. This year, the exams were held on nine compulsory subjects. Student performance in three other subjects – Bangladesh and World introduction or General Knowledge, Religion and Moral Education, and Information and Communication Technology – were assessed on the basis of their Junior School Certificate exam results.

Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni said, "The SSC results broke all the records last year as the students were mostly evaluated on the basis of their previous public exam results. This year, they had to sit for the exams physically. That is why the results have declined."

"Besides, examinees in the flood affected areas faced many difficulties during the natural disaster. Their study also was hampered. This might have caused the poor result in Sylhet Board."

The education minister handed over the summary and statistics of the results to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday. Later, she presented highlights from the examination results at a media briefing at the International Mother Language Institute in the capital.

The number of students with GPA-5 increased to 2,69,602 (13.51%) this year from 1,83,340 (8.8%) last year.

This year, about 16 lakh students sat for the SSC exam under the nine general education boards, while 268,495 students sat for the Dakhil exam under the Madrasa Board and 153,662 under the Technical Education Board.

Under the general education boards, 508,236 students were in the science section, 790,091 were in humanities and 301,384 were in business studies. This year, 367 students participated in the exams at eight centres outside Bangladesh.

The exams started on 15 September after they were delayed by seven months due to the pandemic and floods.

The Dinajpur board rescheduled the tests for four subjects as the question papers were leaked.  The situation led to doubts over the publication of results within the stipulated time, but the education ministry managed to clear it.

Girls outshine boys

In terms of pass rate and GPA-5, girls outdid boys in this year's SSC and equivalent exam results although the number of female examinees was lower than the boys.

A total of 998,193 boys and 995,944 girls took part in the exams, while 870,046 boys and 873,573 girls passed. The total pass rate of girls stood at 87.71% while the success rate of boys was 87.16%.

Among the examinees, 148,446 girls and 121,156 boys secured GPA-5.

Jashore Board secures top position

The Jashore Education Board has secured the top position among 11 education boards with 95.17% pass rate in the SSC and equivalent exams this year.

The Sylhet Education Board witnessed the lowest pass rate – 78.82%.

The pass rate in Dhaka Board was around 90%, in Rajshahi Board around 86%, in Cumilla Board around 91%, in Barishal Board was around 89%, in Mymensingh Board around 89%, in Dinajpur Board around 81%, in Chattogram Board around 87%, in Sylhet Board around 79%, in Madrasah Board around 82% and in Technical Education Board around 89%.

Number of institutions with 100% success declines 

This year, 2,975 educational institutions achieved 100% pass rate in SSC and equivalent examinations, while the number was 5,494 last year.

Of these institutions, 225 are in Dhaka, 147 in Rajshahi, 211 in Cumilla, 513 in Jashore, 71 in Chattogram, 149 in Barishal, 27 in Sylhet, 87 in Dinajpur, 64 in Mymensingh boards, while 1,305 are under the Madrasah Board and 176 under the Bangladesh Technical Education Board.

No students passed from 50 institutions this year. The number of such institutions was 18 last year.