English, Math failures drag SSC pass rate down

Girls have once again outperformed boys in both pass rates and GPA-5 results in this year’s Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and equivalent examinations, even as widespread failures in English and Mathematics contributed significantly to a sharp decline in the overall pass rate.

The overall pass rate across the country’s 11 education boards stood at 62.25 per cent this year, the lowest in 19 years and significantly below the 68.45 per cent recorded last year.

According to the results, the Mymensingh Board has the lowest pass rate among the general boards. In this board, only 66.64 per cent of students passed in English, while 69.61 per cent passed in Mathematics. That is, in the Mymensingh Board, which is at the bottom of the results, 33 out of every 100 students failed in English. And 30 out of every 100 students failed in Mathematics.

Not only Mymensingh, the pass rate in English is below 70 per cent in Barisal and Sylhet boards as well. The pass rate in English in Barisal Board is 69.24 per cent, in Sylhet 69.11 per cent.

There is a pass rate of 70 per cent in English in six other boards-- 71.84 per cent pass in Jashore, 72.27 per cent in Chattogram, 74.70 per cent in Rajshahi, 78.40 per cent in Dhaka and 79.21 per cent in Madrasa board.

Only Comilla and Technical Education Board have a pass rate above 80 per cent in English (which is considered fairly satisfactory). The pass rate in English in Comilla board is 81.29 percent and in technical 94.70 per cent.

Meanwhile, the pass rate in mathematics in Mymensingh and Madrasa boards is around 69 per cent. The pass rate in five other boards is around 70 per cent-- 70.92 per cent pass rate in mathematics in Technical Education Board, 71.05 per cent in Dinajpur, 75.96 per cent in Sylhet, 77.17 per cent in Rajshahi, and 77.98 per cent in Barisal.

A total of 1,829,485 students appeared in the SSC and equivalent examinations this year, of whom 1,138,877 passed.

Of the 911,791 female candidates, 607,939 passed, giving girls a pass rate of 66.68 per cent. In contrast, 917,694 male candidates appeared in the examinations, with 530,938 passing, resulting in a pass rate of 57.86 per cent.

The difference between the two groups was 8.82 percentage points in favour of girls.

Girls also maintained a clear lead among GPA-5 achievers. A total of 63,896 female students secured GPA-5 this year, compared with 52,780 male students.

Thus, 11,116 more girls than boys achieved the highest grade point average.

The trend is not new. Girls have remained ahead of boys in the secondary-level pass rate for the past eight years.

Last year, 71.03 per cent of female students passed the SSC and equivalent examinations, compared with 65.88 per cent of male students. Girls also dominated the GPA-5 list, with 73,616 female students securing the top grade against 65,416 male students �" a difference of 8,200.

In 2024, the pass rate among girls stood at 84.47 per cent, compared with 81.57 per cent among boys. Of the 182,129 students who obtained GPA-5 that year, 98,776 were girls and 83,353 were boys.

However, this year’s overall performance paints a markedly different picture, with the national pass rate falling by 6.20 percentage points from last year.

Education Minister ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon announced the results on Monday and later presented a detailed analysis at a press conference at the Secretariat.

According to the analysis, poor performance in English and Mathematics played a major role in bringing down the overall pass rate.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT), meanwhile, emerged as the subject with the highest number of successful candidates across the education boards.

The nine general education boards recorded an average pass rate of 64.05 per cent, down from 68.04 per cent last year.

Subject-wise results showed significant variations among the boards.

In the Dhaka Education Board, the pass rates in English and Mathematics were 78.40 per cent and 82.85 per cent respectively. Rajshahi recorded 74.70 per cent in English and 77.17 per cent in Mathematics.

Cumilla posted an 81.29 per cent pass rate in English and 81.75 per cent in Mathematics, while Jessore recorded 71.84 per cent and 83.34 per cent respectively.

In Chattogram, 72.27 per cent of students passed English and 80.05 per cent passed Mathematics.

Barishal recorded pass rates of 69.24 per cent in English and 77.98 per cent in Mathematics. In Sylhet, the rates were 69.11 per cent and 75.96 per cent respectively.

Dinajpur recorded 72.91 per cent in English and 71.05 per cent in Mathematics, while Mymensingh posted the lowest performance among the general boards, with 66.64 per cent passing English and 69.61 per cent passing Mathematics.

In the specialised streams, the Madrasah Board recorded a 79.21 per cent pass rate in English and 69.97 per cent in Mathematics. The Technical Education Board performed considerably better in English, with a 94.79 per cent pass rate, while its Mathematics pass rate was 70.92 per cent.

The decline in the overall results was also reflected in the number of GPA-5 achievers.

Only 116,676 students secured GPA-5 this year, compared with 139,032 last year, representing a decline of 22,356.

GPA-5 achievers accounted for 10.24 per cent of the total number of successful candidates this year.

The 62.25 per cent overall pass rate is the lowest since 2007, when 57.37 per cent of students passed the SSC and equivalent examinations. The highest-ever pass rate was recorded in 2021, when 93.60 per cent of students passed.

The SSC and equivalent examinations began on April 21 this year. The theoretical examinations for SSC candidates ended on May 20, while the theoretical examinations for Dakhil and SSC Vocational candidates concluded on May 24.