Staff Reporter :
The results of this year’s Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and equivalent examinations have been published, showing that 68.45 percent of students passed – the lowest in the past 15 years.
Last year, the pass rate was 83.4 percent, meaning this year it has dropped by 14.95 percentage points.
A total of 1,904,086 students took part in the exams – around 1,00,000 fewer than last year. This year also saw a significant decline in the average pass rate.
The announcement was made by Professor Dr Khandoker Ehsanul Kabir, Chairman of the Dhaka Education Board and chief of the Bangladesh Inter-Education Board Controllers’ Committee, at a press conference on Thursday.
Comparing with the previous results, in 2023, the rate was 80.39 percent, and in 2022, it was 87.44 percent.
The highest pass rate was recorded in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, when SSC and equivalent exams were held based on a shortened syllabus – that year, the pass rate soared to 93.6 percent.
After 2010, when the average pass rate was 78.91 percent, only in 2021 did the SSC and equivalent exams see a record-high pass rate of 93.6 percent. In this period, the lowest rate was in 2018, at 77.8 percent – which was still higher than this year.
Before that, in 2009, the pass rate was 67.41 percent.
During its nearly 15 years in power, the Awami League government was often accused of inflating exam results. Education experts believe the current interim government has not followed that path.
Meanwhile, a total of 1,904,086 students from 11 education boards, including general, madrasa, and technical, appeared in the examinations held from April 10 to May 15 this year.
Of these, 1,303,426 students passed, and 139,032 achieved the highest Grade Point Average (GPA) of 5. Last year the total GPA was 1,82,129.
Girls continued their trend of academic excellence, outperforming boys in both pass rate and GPA scores.
Among the candidates, 952,389 were female and 951,697 were male. While 71.03 percent of female students passed, only 65.88 percent of male students did.
Moreover, 73,616 girls achieved GPA 5 compared to 65,416 boys. Educationists have attributed the stronger performance of female students to their higher class attendance, better discipline, and growing awareness among parents about girls’ education.
In terms of board-wise performance, the nine general education boards saw 1,479,310 candidates appear, with 1,006,554 passing, resulting in a pass rate of 68.4 percent.
Within these boards, 125,018 students obtained GPA 5. The Madrasa Education Board recorded a 68.09 percent pass rate with 195,115 students passing, while 9,066 students earned GPA 5.
The Technical Education Board showed relatively better results with a 73.63 percent pass rate; out of 138,204 candidates, 117,057 passed and 4,948 achieved GPA 5.
Among the general boards, Rajshahi posted the highest pass rate at 77.63 percent, followed by Jashore at 73.69 percent and Chattogram at 72.07 percent.
Dhaka Board recorded a 67.51 percent pass rate, Cumilla 63.60 percent, Barisal 56.38 percent, Sylhet 68.57 percent, Dinajpur 67.03 percent, and Mymensingh the lowest at 58.22 percent.
The Madrasa and Technical boards had pass rates of 68.09 and 73.63 percent respectively.
This year also saw participation from 427 Bangladeshi expatriate students across eight foreign centers, of whom 373 passed, marking an impressive 87.35 percent success rate.
Additionally, 984 educational institutions achieved a perfect 100 percent pass rate, reflecting strong academic performance in certain areas.
Education experts suggest that while the overall pass rate reflects steady progress, the challenges faced by students due to previous learning gaps, pandemic-related disruptions, and curriculum transitions have influenced the outcome.
Despite these challenges, the consistent academic success of female students is seen as a positive sign for the country’s educational future.
