The results of the 2025 Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations have been published. This time, from the exams to the announcement of the results, there has been a noticeable sense of professionalism free from political influence. The education administration deserves thanks for that.
This year, around 1.9 million students appeared for the exams. Of them, 1.3 million passed while 600,000 failed. The number of GPA-5 achievers has also decreased. Undoubtedly, these are “poor results.”
The fact that such a large number of students have failed has sparked widespread concern. Headlines online suggest that several education boards have recorded their “worst results” in six or seven years. The number of students achieving the highest GPA has also dropped significantly. A student’s education involves considerable investment from their family. As a result, today is a day of sorrow for hundreds of thousands of families.
Why this has happened must be investigated at the school level. It would not be appropriate to bring politics into this matter. In the past, such examinations were often politicised.
Investigations reveal that, unlike in the past, the education administration did not take any measures this time to artificially inflate the pass rate for political reasons. As a result, students received results that reflect the actual quality of our existing education system and learning standards. For the first time in many years, we have seen a realistic outcome. Admittedly, this reality is not pleasant, but we must accept it professionally.
The usual disturbances caused by TV cameras entering exam halls were largely absent this time. In truth, the fewer visits ministers and advisers make to exam halls, the better it is for the examinees
Those involved in evaluating SSC exam papers at the school level know that, in previous years, there were clear instructions to assess students leniently. Even if a student genuinely performed poorly, examiners were often reprimanded for giving low marks. A corrupt board-level cycle where a handful of individuals were tasked with checking an excessive number of scripts, has been broken this time.
It has also come to light that there were no directives from higher authorities this time to manipulate the pass rate. Even when signs of a poor overall result became evident, the government did not make attempts to inflate marks in order to increase the pass rate. This restraint is commendable. The number of GPA-5 achievers this year is 40,000 less than before.
In the past, GPA-5 scores were often inflated unnecessarily just to showcase success. As a result, we saw an unhealthy competition over the years. Many students even committed suicide simply because they failed to achieve GPA-5. The government's non-interference from the beginning of the exams to the publication of results can bring an end to this toxic competition.
Now that the results reflect the true standard of our secondary education, it will be much easier to identify the real causes behind this poor outcome. Over the past few years, an artificial aura of success was created across all levels of education. It was time for us to come back down to earth. The interim government, which had initially made the grave mistake of introducing automatic promotion, seems now to be taking a step toward necessary correction with SSC 2025.
It is to be hoped that the same approach will be followed throughout the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) exams as well and that there will be no political interference in the examination process and that full professionalism will be maintained in the evaluation of answer scripts.
From the very beginning of this year’s SSC exams, one thing was noticeable: from advisers to education administrators, everyone allowed the examination to proceed as an examination should. The usual disturbances caused by TV cameras entering exam halls were largely absent this time. In truth, the fewer visits ministers and advisers make to exam halls, the better it is for the examinees.
It was also reassuring to see that unnecessary formalities were avoided during the announcement of the results. In the past, even the prime minister would be unnecessarily involved in such announcements. Education ministers would present the results to the prime minister in advance. Why this was done was always difficult to understand.
This time, there was no unwarranted presence of senior government officials during the announcement. In previous years, the preparation of results took much longer. This year, the entire process was completed within just two months.
All in all, from start to finish, the education ministry and its relevant departments have set a good example in the management of the SSC exams. We hope this trend will continue in the future. It will send a message to parents and help revive a habit of reading in households. This kind of precedent should now be followed especially in the case of the National University.
* Altaf Parvez is a writer, researcher, and former teacher