The record pass rate in SSC and equivalent exams, which rose to 93.58 per cent for the first time in Bangladesh’s, was caused by three factors, believes Education Minister Dipu Moni, reports bdnews24.com.
This year’s exams were limited to three elective subjects and an abbreviated syllabus while the question papers offered many options to students, which likely contributed to better results this year, she said at a press briefing on Thursday.
Approximately 2.2 million students from 29,060 institutions sat for their exams this year.
Of the examinees, 183,340 or 8.18 per cent scored a grade point average, or GPA, of 5.0.
The latest pass rate is a 10.71 per centage point jump from the previous rate in 2020, according to data from the education authorities.
Of the examinees, 135,898 received a GPA of 5.0, 47,442 more than last year.
The pass rate for the SSC and equivalent exams was 82.87 per cent last year.
The total number of students who took the exams exceeded last year’s by 200,000, which is partially responsible for the rise in the number of GPA 5.0 recipients, the minister said.
‘Additional’ stress amid the coronavirus pandemic has been a major factor behind the failure of 6.42 per cent of students, said Dipu Moni.
“It’s great that the pass rate has increased. At the same time, our examinees faced different types of stress. They confronted different problems, including family issues,” she said.
“They had additional stress caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Many of them were traumatised after losing loved ones. We must consider those issues."
Many students have different types of disabilities or other problems, the minister said. Some students may fall sick or suffer a nervous breakdown and cannot attain good results in the exams despite studying hard, she explained.
HOW SUBJECT MAPPING WAS DONE
The government decided the SSC and equivalent tests would have reduced syllabi of three elective subjects in consideration of the setbacks caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Students were also graded based on their performance in JSC and JDC exams, which is called ‘subject mapping.’
The examinees sat for tests on three elective subjects, while they were graded for the remaining compulsory subjects through subject mapping from their JSC and JDC exams performance, the minister said.
“They had to take the exams on elective subjects. Then for the compulsory subjects, like Bengali or English, we considered their score in JSC and JDC.”
For the fourth subject, (apart from the three elective subjects) the compulsory subject related to it was considered and the result was determined through subject mapping, she said.
“For example, the students who had higher math as their fourth subject did not have higher math in JSC and JDC. In that case, we determined the score considering their performances in general math in JSC and JDC.”
For those who had biology as their fourth subject, the authorities considered the science subject to determine the score. This was how subject mapping was done, the minister said.