SSC exam: Is it really necessary?

A few days ago, the results of the 2025 SSC and equivalent examinations were published. over 600,000 students failed. Unfortunately, there is very little concern that one out of every three 16-year-old on average fails a major public examination.

Over the past several years, an average of around 2 million students in Bangladesh have been taking the SSC or equivalent exams annually. At one time, the SSC examination was a crucial milestone in shaping a student’s future.

But as we step into 2025, it is time to reassess the relevance and necessity of this examination. The original purpose the SSC exam once served, both at its inception and for a long time afterward, is now lost. Instead, it has become an obstacle to a student’s holistic education.

We are spending enormous amounts of money on a single examination whose practical value is steadily diminishing. If, instead, this investment were made in developing skills, real education, and contextually relevant assessment, perhaps our future generations could stand on a much firmer foundation.

As the rule of the East India Company became firmly established in the Indian subcontinent, there arose a growing need for people to run trade and administration. Bringing personnel from England was not a viable option. So, in 1835, a fundamental shift occurred in British India’s education policy, inspired by Macaulay’s Minute on Education.

In this proposal, Thomas Babington Macaulay spoke of creating a class of people proficient in English, who would act as intermediaries between the British and Indian cultures. The goal of this cultural strategy of British colonial administration was to produce a local workforce with “Indian bodies but British minds” to serve in administrative roles.

In line with this policy, a Western-style education system was introduced, laying the foundation for an exam-centered structure. Naturally, this also led to the need for establishing Western-style universities. The University of Calcutta was founded in 1857. The establishment of a university necessitated setting an admission standard or “entry qualification.”

The word “matriculation” comes from Latin, meaning to be entered into a list. Passing the matriculation exam meant getting listed for university admission. Thus, the matriculation examination was introduced for the first time in 1857 and it became the norm.

However, it was later observed that students entering university directly after matriculation struggled to cope with BA-level classes. There was a significant gap between the tenth-grade curriculum and the bachelor's curriculum. This created the need for an intermediate stage.

As a result, the First Arts (FA) or Intermediate Examination in Arts was introduced in 1859. Gradually, a three-tier university structure began to take shape: first matriculation, then intermediate (FA), and finally BA or BSc.

Since students could no longer directly enroll in universities after only matriculation, intermediate-level colleges began to be established in the Indian subcontinent during the 1870s. These colleges offered FA (First Arts) or IA (Intermediate in Arts) exams as the entry point to university education. For example, Rajshahi College was transformed from a district school into an intermediate college in 1873 and introduced the FA course.

Similarly, many intermediate colleges were established across India during this time. This trend gained further momentum following the recommendations of the Sadler Commission between 1917 and 1919. The commission recommended, "Let the matriculation and intermediate stages be separated into school or college levels, and let universities be reserved solely for first-degree education."

As a result, intermediate education began to be incorporated under the category of “college,” although globally, the term “college” is commonly used for tertiary institutions that come after twelve years of schooling.
Around the world, university admission typically requires twelve years of schooling. However, in our context, passing the matriculation exam began to open employment opportunities in various institutions. As such, the value of the matriculation pass certificate gradually increased.

This practice continued under British rule, carried on during the Pakistan period, and the exam was renamed the SSC (Secondary School Certificate). Similarly, the FA or Intermediate examination was renamed the HSC (Higher Secondary Certificate), and this has continued into the era of Bangladesh.

However, during the Bangladesh period, SSC-level education became subject to various experiments. Under military ruler Hussain Muhammad Ershad, higher mathematics was removed, only to be reintroduced later. Information and Communication Technology was made compulsory. Through these twists and turns, students are now required to sit for SSC examinations which carry 1,300 marks! To prepare, they must study these subjects throughout both ninth and tenth grade.

Despite the lofty term “creative method”, our education system remains heavily reliant on rote learning. Many even sarcastically refer to it as the “creative rote-learning method.”

For 16-year-old boys and girls, such a system undoubtedly imposes immense physical and mental pressure. In the name of examinations, their recreation, creativity and curiosity are steadily stifled. In the end, they cease to be students and become mere examinees.
Relevance declines

Meanwhile, with rising literacy rates and improved qualifications required in both public and private sectors, the minimum educational requirements for employment have also increased. For girls who had passed the SSC, the biggest opportunity used to be eligibility for recruitment as assistant teachers in government primary schools. This standard was set in 1992.
However, 15 years later in 2007, the minimum qualification was raised to HSC, and finally, in 2017–18, it was further raised to a degree. As a result, those who only hold an SSC certificate are no longer eligible to apply for the most widely available category of government jobs.

On the other hand, SSC graduates are now left with just one goal: getting admitted to an intermediate college.

In most countries—especially developed ones—schooling is conducted within a continuous and integrated structure lasting up to 12 years. There are no major public examinations in between; rather, university admission eligibility is determined based on continuous assessment.

In countries like Finland, Japan, and South Korea, there is only one public examination—at the end of schooling, after Grade 12, around the age of 18. In the United States, there is no public exam even after completing 12 years of school. Students who wish to pursue higher education may take standardised tests like the SAT.

In the United Kingdom, although there is an exam known as the O-Level, it merely assesses proficiency in specific subjects. Even for admission to intermediate colleges, O-Level results are not considered separately. University admission is primarily based on A-Level results.

In India, although the CBSE and ICSE boards conduct exams at the 10th-grade level, these are fairly routine and hold little significance for higher education or employment. In fact, many Indian states now have no major public exams except the final one at the end of school.

India’s new National Education Policy (NEP 2020) has introduced significant changes in secondary education. Board exams for grades 10 and 12 may now be taken multiple times a year, allowing students to retain their highest score.

To reduce exam stress, internal assessments and school-based evaluations are being given greater importance. The concept of a “credit bank” has also been introduced, where students can store their achievements over time. As a result, India too is shifting away from rote learning toward a more skills-based education system.

Let us estimate how much the nation spends on the SSC examination, which determines eligibility for admission into intermediate colleges. According to a report by The Business Standard, an SSC candidate and their family spend, on average, around 20,000 taka on exam preparation, coaching, books and other associated expenses. With 2 million examinees, the total cost amounts to roughly 40 billion taka. (The Business Standard, March 30, 2024)

If we add to this the government exam fees, unofficial additional charges and the various household expenses incurred during the exam period, the total expenditure becomes huge. And after all this money, effort and pressure, what the student gains is merely the eligibility to apply for admission to an intermediate college.

We are investing huge amounts of money in an exam that is rapidly losing its real-world value. If this same investment had gone into skill development, meaningful education, and context-relevant assessment, our future generations might have been able to stand on much stronger foundations.

According to Bangladesh’s National Education Policy 2010, pre-university education is to follow a continuous 12-year track: primary (Grades 1–8) and secondary (Grades 9–12). Within this structure, the SSC exam after Grade 10 becomes an unnecessary barrier.

Now is the time to gradually phase it out and transition to a modern, assessment-based education system. As part of initial education reforms, we must clearly commit to a continuous 12-year schooling structure. Pilot projects can then be launched in selected districts to introduce school-based assessments. At the same time, teachers must be trained in methods of continuous and alternative evaluation. In my opinion, this transformation could very well be completed within the next five years.
Through this process, students would sit for only one public examination, HSC, at the end of their 12-year education, and that certificate would serve as the basis for university admission.

SSC is not merely an exam. It is a mental pressure imposed on students. It leads to their dependence on private tutors or coaching centers and a rote-based education system. This process is stunting the potential of our new generation.

\The time has come to make a bold decision. By consigning the SSC exam to history, we can move toward a humane, skill-based and modern education system. For the sake of building an equitable and education-friendly modern Bangladesh, the SSC examination must be abolished.

* Munir Hasan is the Chief Coordinator of Digital Transformation at Prothom Alo and General Secretary of the Bangladesh Mathematical Olympiad Committee.

* The opinions expressed are the author’s own.