SSC results indicate progress towards educational quality

The SSC and equivalent examination results were published three weeks after the scheduled time. Seeing the delay this time, I could sense that something was about to happen. If students' answer scripts were evaluated properly, the pass rate should hover around 20 percent. But we were seeing nearly 100 percent passes!

Students, parents, teachers, educational institutions, and the administration—everyone was going with the flow of this herd mentality. Going against it was an extremely difficult task. But allowing this to continue would have brought the nation to the brink of destruction; it was on the verge of collapsing entirely at any moment. At such a time, a tremendously courageous, revolutionary step was needed—and that helmsman is the current Education Minister. He is a human being, not an angel. So he will have some human flaws, which we will overlook. For the rest, we must support every step he takes, if we truly want the welfare of the people, education, and the future generation.

This year, the average pass rate in the general education boards is 64.05 percent, compared to 68.04 percent last year—meaning the pass rate has dropped by 3.99 percentage points. This year, 106,009 examinees achieved GPA-5, compared to 125,018 last year. The average pass rate across the 9 general education boards, the Madrasa Board, and the Technical Education Board is 62.25 percent. A total of 116,676 students achieved GPA-5. Over 690,000 students failed, and 312 educational institutions recorded zero passes—including 226 madrasas. On the other hand, 699 institutions had a 100 percent pass rate. Girls continue to outperform; among them, 1,138,982 passed and 19,009 achieved GPA-5. Compared to last year, the overall pass rate has dropped by 6.2 percent, and the number of GPA-5 achievers has decreased by 22,365. The Madrasa Board has the lowest pass rate at 55.49 percent—yet, ironically, in previous years, this board used to show an unjustifiably high pass rate.

On June 8, at a press conference at the Secretariat, the Education Minister announced that the SSC and equivalent results would be published on July 20. That was not possible due to preparation gaps. Finally, the results were released on August 10.

On July 27, a notice from the Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee said that the SSC and equivalent examination results for 2026 would be published simultaneously across the country on August 10, and that is precisely what happened. This year's SSC and equivalent examinations began on April 21 and continued until May 20, followed by practical exams. Under the 9 general education boards (SSC), the Madrasa Education Board (Dakhil), and the Technical Education Board (SSC and Dakhil Vocational), over 1,857,000 examinees appeared this year. These tender-aged students are the future of our country; they will one day take on all responsibilities and steer the nation. Therefore, they must be prepared accordingly. Passing them by hook or by crook, without properly educating them, and merely giving them grades, was actually harming them. The process of emerging from that situation has just begun.

In 2025, the pass rate was 68.45 percent. That year, both the pass rate and GPA-5 numbers dropped, marking the lowest in 15 years. In 2024, the secondary pass rate was 83.4 percent. In 2023, the SSC pass rate was 80.39 percent, and in 2022, it was 87.44 percent. During the 2021 SSC exams held under a shortened syllabus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the pass rate was the highest at 93.6 percent. Since 2010, when the average pass rate was 78.91 percent, the lowest pass rate during this period was in 2018—77.8 percent. However, even that was much higher than this year's. Earlier, in 2009, the pass rate was 67.41 percent.

However, the education boards or the education ministry do not have any proper or valid explanation or justification for any of these fluctuations. Yet, every year, we see a tendency to give pre-prepared, canned answers or make hasty comments in response to journalists' questions.
Regarding this highly valuable national assessment system of the education sector, we observe that the voices, evaluations, or opinions of those directly involved—namely, the secondary and higher secondary teachers who prepare students from class six (and in some cases from class one) and send them to the board exams—are not reflected at the national level. Those who speak on these matters often do not have a deep understanding of the secondary and higher secondary syllabus, study patterns, or problems. Journalists turn their cameras towards them hoping to hear something valuable. In reality, these commentators lack a clear grasp of these educational levels; they make speculative remarks based on newspaper reports and the general situation around them, offering opinions from their own perspectives—which often do not align with reality or the root causes. As a result, questions regarding why board results vary so much from year to year, why there are huge disparities between different boards, why there are inconsistencies in students' acquired skills and knowledge, and what practical solutions might exist—all remain unanswered.

The government must play a major role in improving educational quality, but teachers, parents, and all stakeholders need to step forward. We know, according to research from DSHE's (Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education) monitoring and evaluation branch, secondary-level students lag significantly in acquiring proficiency in English and Mathematics. Even their performance in Bengali is not up to the desired standard. Mainly because proper studies do not take place in schools, students are forced to turn to coaching centres and private tutors. The government cannot suddenly shut this down overnight; everyone must play a responsible role.

Nearly half of the government primary schools in the country do not have head teachers, a problem that has persisted for years. In government secondary schools, there are 15,293 approved posts for assistant teachers; of these, 2,842 posts are vacant—meaning over 18% of positions have no teachers. And we all know the condition of private educational institutions.

Fifty-five percent of government secondary schools in the country have no head teachers, and over 18% of assistant teacher posts are vacant. Currently, there are 702 government secondary schools in the country; of these, 383 schools are functioning without head teachers. Additionally, 249 posts for assistant head teachers are vacant. In these schools, out of 15,293 approved assistant teacher posts, 2,842 are unfilled. On the one hand, this creates a leadership crisis in schools; on the other, due to the absence of a sufficient number of subject-based teachers, students are developing learning deficits in many subjects.

Teacher, head teacher, and education administrator positions will always become vacant due to transfers and retirements. However, to ensure that this does not impact students' studies and education administration, alternative arrangements and contingency plans are necessary. I have been writing for years about how to devise such alternative plans. Yet, the stagnation in education administration due to manpower shortages continues!

All 10 posts of Deputy Director at DSHE's 9 regional offices and its headquarters are currently being managed by acting officers. Furthermore, out of 64 District Education Officer posts, 23 are vacant. All 16 posts of School Inspector are also empty. The question is, if such vacancies exist in the administrative structure of secondary education, how will the supervision and management of this level of education be carried out?

That covers government schools and administration. But no one talks about the state of the 20,000 private secondary schools where over 80% of the country's students study! We are only discussing the 702 government schools, but we know the dire condition of the private ones. We know this because we continuously talk to teachers and students and visit classrooms. In these areas, the government must take specific steps.

During their nearly 16 consecutive years in power, the allegations against the previous Awami League government were not merely accusations but clear evidence of inflating and blowing up exam results. The interim government has not followed that path. Because for generations, the country's highly valuable assessment system had been running on "pass by mercy, pass by charity." As a teacher and as an examiner for boards and universities, I have seen that if answer scripts are evaluated properly, only a very small number of students would actually pass—yet all sorts of mechanisms were used to inflate and push the pass rate up to 100%. Consequently, the quality of education has dropped to nearly zero. The nation must be freed from this. Therefore, we need to start correcting things from one point, and it can be said that this beginning has at least started with the secondary results. These results will encourage students to sit down and study seriously; and for those parents who want their children to get GPA-5 regardless of whether they learn anything or not, this result will serve as a cautionary signal.

Author: Researcher and Education Expert – BRAC Education