THIS year’s SSC candidates have achieved outstanding results, pushing up the pass rate and number of GPA-5 achievers in nine general education boards. Female examinees have outperformed their male counterparts in terms of both pass rate and achieving the highest Grade Point Average. A total of 17,92,312 students took the SSC exams in November after a nine-month delay due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Of them, 94.08 per cent passed, which is significantly higher than last year’s 83.75 per cent, while 1,63,840 students got GPA-5 — much higher than last year’s 1,23,497. Taking into account the Dakhil exams under the madrasa board and SSC vocational tests under the technical board, the combined pass rate was 93.58 — a big jump from last year’s 82.87.
Due to the pandemic, examinees sat for exams in only three optional subjects, apart from compulsory subjects like Bangla, English and Mathematics, with shortened syllabuses. The total marks for the exams were also lessened. The results of the three optional subjects and the GPAs of the students’ previous public examinations, including Junior School Certificate, were taken into consideration while preparing the final results. As subjects were fewer, syllabuses shortened, and schools also closed for a long period, examinees had enough time to prepare themselves. During the exams, they also had more choices in terms of questions to answer, which is said to be another reason for the good results.
Usually English and mathematics are the two vital subjects to determine the pass rate and the number of GPA-5 achievers. The examinees and the education authorities did a good thing by opting for examination instead of resorting to auto pass although the pandemic-induced shutdown of educational institutions seriously hampered normal learning. Most students of rural schools were at a disadvantage due to their inability to benefit from online classes. This rural-urban divide needs to be minimised in future.
