SSC 2024: Good performance in two 'difficult' subjects lifts result

Various public examinations including Secondary School Certificate (SSC) were held in the curtailed syllabus for the last three years after the coronavirus epidemic. The exams were also conducted after the scheduled time. Sometimes these exams are taken with curtailed marks, sometimes with subjects. But this time SSC exam was conducted in all subjects, full syllabus and full marks.

The pass rate has increased this year compared to the last year in nine general education boards. Girls did better than boys. Number of GPA-5, the highest grade, has also increased in the general education boards. However, the number of GPA-5 attaining students dropped a tad bit if calculation is made in all eleven boards including technical and madrasa education boards.

Education ministry and board officials’ assessment is that the results were better this year as students in almost all boards performed better in English and Mathematics, considered as ‘tough’ subjects.

Tapon Kumar Sarker, the chairman of inter-education board coordination committee and Dhaka education board, told Prothom Alo that mathematics and English always impact the results of SSC and HSC examinations. Students have performed well in these two subjects this year which resulted in overall better outcomes.

The result of last year’s SSC (2023) was worse than the previous year. The exam was conducted on the revised syllabus last year, though the students had to give the exam in all subjects and with full marks. But this time the students have done better than before even with the full syllabus exam.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the programme of publishing the results of the SSC examination yesterday at 10:00am in the Ganabhaban.

After that, the results were published simultaneously in educational institutions and online from 11:00am. Later in the afternoon, education minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury held a press conference at the secretariat and highlighted various aspects of the results. State minister of education Begum Shamsun Nahar along with officials of the ministry and boards were present.

Around 83.77 per cent of students passed this year's SSC test from nine general boards. Last year, 81 per cent of students passed the SSC exams in nine boards whereas the passing rate was over 88 per cent in 2022.

A total of 163,845 students got GPA-5 in the SSC examinations of 2024 while the number was 159,220 last year.

A total of 16,06,394 candidates sat for the SSC exam and 13,45,678 of them cleared it. Students thronged their schools and celebrated the results although the students don’t need to go to school in-person nowadays to see their results. Many students and guardians took to Facebook and shared the joy of their results.

Dhaka Education Board’s senior systems analyst Manjurul Kabir stated to Prothom Alo that from 10:55 in the morning until 11:55 on Sunday, approximately 27,01,704 individuals attempted to access the designated website to know their exam results. Moreover, attempts to access the website from various educational institutions have occurred more than 300,000 times.

Analysing the results this time, it can be seen that students have performed relatively better in English and Mathematics across almost all boards. For instance, the pass rate in Mathematics has increased to nearly 88 per cent from last year’s slightly lower at 81 per cent under the Dhaka Education Board. Similarly, under the Jashore board, approximately 98.55 per cent of students have passed in Mathematics.

Likewise, the pass rate in English under the Dhaka board is 94.58 percent, which is higher than the previous pass rate of 91 per cent. Approximately 96 per cent passed in English in Jashore board, which tops all boards in overall pass rate.

Girls have been performing better than boys in various indicators of education. Over the past few years, female students have been consistently doing well in the SSC examinations. This time, both the pass rate and GPA-5, two key indicators, show that girls have outperformed boys.

Girls are also ahead in terms of the number of examinees. Around 8,49,000 female students took part in the examination and 85 per cent of them passed the test. A total of 89,168 girls secured top grade GPA-5. Meanwhile the pass rate of boys was slightly more than 82 per cent with a total of 757,000 students appearing in the exam. The number of GPA-5 achievers is 74,677.

Girls once would lag behind in terms of numbers in the science field. However, participation of girls in the science field is now increasing. There were more than 286,000 male students in science this time while the number of female students was around 280,000. The pass rate of female students is higher in science as well.

The increased participation of female students in science in both SSC and HSC is having a positive impact on higher education as well. For instance, female students outnumber their male counterparts now in medical colleges.

Comparative analysis of the result shows that the Jashore education board is leading in terms of the pass rate this time with more than 92 per cent. A total of 20,761 students have achieved GPA-5 from this board.

On the other hand, Dhaka education board tops in terms of students achieving GPA-5. The pass rate in Dhaka Board is approximately 84 per cent while the number of students attaining GPA-5 is 49,190.

In this year’s SSC and equivalent examinations, not a single student passed from 51 institutions across the country. Among them, 42 are madrasas and nine schools. Last year, no one passed out from 48 institutions.

Meanwhile, 100 per cent students passed from 2,968 institutes. The number was 2,354 last year.

The educational institutions across the country had to close due to the spread of the coronavirus after SSC examination in 2020. Analysing data from the past five years, it has been observed that the number of GPA-5 achievers has fluctuated. For example, 123,497 students got GPA-5 in 2020. The number increased to over 163,000 in 2021 and further surged to over 235,000 in 2022. Last year, the number of students achieving GPA-5 dropped to just over 159,000. This year, there has been a slight increase to 163,845.