SSC exams: Three reasons behind poor results

This year’s SSC examination results under the nine general education boards in the country have been among the worst in recent years. Both the average passing rate and the highest grade indicator, GPA-5, have declined. The number of educational institutions where all students failed has increased, while the number of institutions with a 100 per cent pass rate has decreased.

An analysis of the results shows that the poor performance this year is mainly due to three reasons. First, over the past five years, this batch of SSC candidates received fewer in-person classes at school due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other disruptions. Second, the pass rate in mathematics dropped because the questions were considered difficult. Third, the evaluation of answer scripts was stricter than in previous years.

The SSC and equivalent exam results were published yesterday, Thursday. This year, 1,479,310 candidates appeared in the SSC examinations under the nine general education boards. A total of 1,006,554 students passed. The pass rate stands at 68.04 per cent, down from 83.77 per cent last year. The number of GPA-5 achievers has dropped by 38,827 compared to the previous year.

The results of the Dakhil examination under the Madrasa Education Board and the SSC and Dakhil Vocational examinations under the Technical Education Board were also published yesterday. This year, no formal event was held to mark the announcement of the results. Each education board released its results separately. However, on behalf of the Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee, the committee's president and chairman of the Dhaka Education Board, Professor Khondoker Ehsanul Kabir, briefed journalists and shared various details about the results.

An analysis of results published from 2020 up to yesterday shows that this year’s performance has been the poorest. From 2020 to last year, the pass rate had remained above 80 percent every year.

The Barishal Education Board had the lowest pass rate this year, 56.38 percent. In contrast, the Rajshahi Education Board had the highest pass rate, 77.63 per cent. The pass rates for other boards are as follows: Dhaka Board, 67.51 per cent, Cumilla Board, 63.60 per cent, Jashore Board 73.69 per cent, Chattogram Board, 72.07 per cent, Dinajpur Board, 67.03 per cent, and Mymensingh Board, 58.22 per cent.

According to concerned persons, this year’s SSC candidates received significantly less in-person classroom instruction during their five years of secondary education, from grades six to ten. The regular SSC candidates for this year were enrolled in Grade Six in 2020. On 17 March that year, all educational institutions in the country were closed due to the outbreak of COVID-19. That closure lasted for a continuous one and a half years. Later, during a second wave of the pandemic, the government again shut down educational institutions on 21 January 2022, and they remained closed for another month.

In addition to pandemic-related closures, classroom learning was also disrupted for extended periods due to political instability. As a result, this year’s SSC candidates advanced through the grades and sat for their exams while grappling with significant learning gaps.

This year’s SSC candidates sat for the exams based on the full syllabus. Among the subjects, the question papers for mathematics and a few others were made particularly difficult. As a result, the pass rate in mathematics was lower. For example, in the Dhaka Board, the pass rate in mathematics was 75.14 per cent, whereas in English it was nearly 88 per cent, in Bangla around 97 per cent, in physics about 93 per cent, in chemistry around 95 per cent, in information and communication technology 98 per cent, in civics 94 per cent, and in accounting over 92 per cent. The pass rate in mathematics was similarly low across other education boards.

Since mathematics is a compulsory subject for all, poor performance in this subject significantly impacted the overall results.
Stricter evaluation of answer scripts

This year, the evaluation of answer scripts was stricter than in recent years. While there was leniency in checking the papers in previous years, that was not the case this time.

Responding to a question from journalists regarding the stricter evaluation, Professor Khondoker Ehsanul Kabir, Chairman of the Dhaka Education Board and President of the Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee, said, “We had no target in mind to set, increase, or decrease the pass rate. Our mission was to conduct the examination properly.”
He added, “When teachers came here (to the board) to collect the answer scripts for evaluation, they too asked whether there were any specific instructions. We told them there were no special directives… The results we have received are based on a proper and fair evaluation.”

An analysis of the results shows that this year saw the lowest number of GPA-5 achievers since 2021. In 2021, 163,840 students obtained GPA-5; in 2022, the number rose to 235,490; in 2023, it was 159,220; and last year, 163,845. This year, the number has dropped to 125,018.

In terms of both pass rate and GPA-5 achievers, female students outperformed male students. The pass rate among girls is nearly 71 percent, while among boys it is just over 65 percent. Of the students who achieved GPA-5, 66,780 were girls and 58,238 were boys.

This year, students from 30,088 educational institutions across the country appeared in the SSC and equivalent examinations. Among these, 984 institutions had all their students pass. Last year, that number was 2,968.
On the other hand, 134 institutions this year saw none of their students pass. That’s an increase of 83 compared to last year.

Commenting on this year’s overall results, Professor S M Hafizur Rahman of the Institute of Education and Research (IER) at the University of Dhaka told Prothom Alo: “The expectation is that all students will pass by achieving the necessary competencies. Instead of focusing heavily on the pass/fail rate, more importance should be given to whether students are attaining the required skills at each grade level according to the curriculum.”