The Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and equivalent examinations began across the country on Thursday, with 1,270,583 regular and irregular candidates taking part at 2,697 centres.
The examinations under the nine general education boards are being held using a common question paper this year.
However, this year's examinations have been marked by a sharp rise in absenteeism among regular students. According to education authorities, 36 per cent of registered regular students did not appear in the examinations, a figure education experts describe as unusually high.
Data from the Ministry of Education and the country's 11 education boards show that around 1.5 million students enrolled in Class XI after passing the SSC and equivalent examinations in the 2024-25 academic year. Of them, only about 950,000 regular students submitted forms to sit this year's HSC and equivalent examinations.
As a result, nearly 550,000 regular students are missing this year's examinations.
Last year, the absentee rate among regular students stood at just over 29 per cent, with more than 425,000 students not appearing. The rate has increased by around seven percentage points within a year, raising concerns among education stakeholders.
