The pass rate for the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and equivalent examinations has dropped sharply to 58.83 percent, the lowest in the past two decades. The last time the rate had been this low was 2004, when it stood at 47.9 percent.
Of those who passed the public examinations that mark the end of 12th grade and the start of university, 69,097 – or 9.5 percent – scored a GPA-5, bdnews24 reports. In 2024, 77.78 percent of students passed the HSC exams and 145,911 received a GPA-5.
This means the pass rate fell 18.95 percent year-on-year, while the number of GPA-5 recipients fell by 76,814.
The chairmen of the education boards announced the results of the public exams from their personal offices at 10am on Thursday. As usual, the results are available to students on the board websites and via mobile SMS.
The unrest surrounding last year’s July Uprising and the changes in the way exam scripts are assessed under the new administration have also led to a sharp drop in the pass rate in the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) results as well.
This year, 68.45 percent of students passed the SSC and equivalent exams, the lowest in the last 15 years.
The 2023 HSC exam was the first time that exams were held on full marks and duration since the COVID-19 pandemic. However, after exams were held on seven subjects in 2024, it was not possible for the rest to be held amid the student-led mass uprising that ousted the Awami League government.
The 2022 HSC exams were delayed due to the pandemic and floods. The tests were conducted on an abbreviated syllabus and 85.95 percent of students passed. Of them, 176,282 got a GPA-5.
The 2021 HSC exam was also delayed due to the pandemic. The pass rate for the exams, held on a few subjects with an abbreviated syllabus, was 95.26 percent and 189,169 got a GPA-5.
There were no HSC exams in 2020. Instead, candidates passed automatically based on their Junior School Certificate (JSC) and SSC exams. Accordingly, 161,807 students got a GPA-5.
Before the pandemic, 73.93 percent of students passed the HSC and equivalent examinations in 2019. Of them, a total of 47,286 students got a GPA-5.
Some of the 2024 HSC results are similar to the ones in 2020. The subjects on which exams could be held were evaluated traditionally. For subjects in which exams could not be held, the results were calculated through subject mapping through the SSC marks.
Associate Professor Fahmida Haque from Dhaka’s Eden Mohila College has been an examiner for English at the higher secondary level for a long time. She hinted to bdnews24.com on Wednesday that the HSC pass rate and GPA 5 numbers may drop this time if “grace marks” are not given.
“The culture of giving grace marks has been there from the start and it actually depends on the mentality of the examiners. Many examiners, out of a sense of kindness, will increase the marks of candidates who got a 32 or 31.
“When I was an examiner, I saw examiners encouraged to do this several times, but it was never officially stated.”
She said, “Now if the board asks for no grace marks to be handed out, it is not unusual for its impact to be reflected in the GPA-5 or pass rate.”
During the Awami League government, the head of government would formally announce the results of the SSC and HSC exams on the morning of the day they were to be released. The board chairmen would hand over the results report to him at the Prime Minister’s Office. The education minister and other officials would be present at the event.
After the head of government completed the formalities, the results would be available at various educational institutions, through websites and on mobile phones. In addition, the education minister would hold a press conference and present a detailed summary of the results from across the country.
But under the interim government, those formalities have been dropped. On Thursday morning, a press conference was held at the Dhaka Board of Education to present the overall statistics of all the boards.
