SSC results examined

SSC exam results: Something to celebrate?

Here are some salient facts about the 2005 results.

Almost a half of the select group qualified as candidates failed the test. The SSC candidates were a select group who had gone through a screening process beginning in the primary school. Only about a half of the primary school age children -- when non-enrolled, dropout and actual completers are counted -- complete primary education. Of these, about 80 percent go on to secondary school. Of all who enroll in grade six, only about one-third make it to grade ten and can become candidates for SSC. It is clear that the candidates for the SSC examination were a highly select group who had passed through a gauntlet of elimination steps. It is safe to conclude that children of the poor -- almost half of the population by various definitions, such as minimum calorie intake for sustenance or an income of one dollar a day -- were not among the SSC candidates. Yet, after 15 years of schooling, roughly half of the select group failed the test.

Wide variations were found in the results from the seven education boards. Among the seven boards, the pass rate varied widely -- from 43.13 percent for Rajshahi to 69.19 percent for Jessore. A fifty percent difference in the pass rate from one board to another raises questions about the validity and reliability of the examination. There is no plausible reason to believe that there is such a difference in standard of education and teaching between the two boards to explain such a difference. There is speculation in the press that in the Jessore board the English papers in which many students fail were deliberately graded liberally. Only 18 percent failed in both papers in English in Jessore compared to 47 percent in Rajshahi and 48 percent in Barisal.

A jump in students scoring perfect GPA of 5 does not indicate higher quality. In 2004, the number of students making perfect score of GPA 5 quadrupled from the previous year, and it again doubled in 2005. This outcome was the result of a new calculation method. Since 2004, the scores above 40 percent for an optional subject (the so called fourth paper) was added equally to all the compulsory subjects, thus artificially boosting the grade point average. Even with this boost, of those who passed in 2005, 10.75 percent had scores of GPA 4 and above, and 22.12 per cent had GPA between 1 and 3. In other words, more than double the students were at the bottom end of the scale compared to those at the upper end of the scale. A normal statistical distribution of talent in a population is expected to be more balanced.

A small number of elite institutions consistently did well. A small number of well-known elite institutions, mostly located in the urban centres, mostly high tuition private institutions and extremely competitive, and high cost public institutions such as the cadet colleges, have been topping in high grade point averages and total pass rates. At the same time, in 409 secondary institutions including 224 madrasas, not a single student passed the 2005 examination. In 1,136 institutions, the pass rate was 20 percent or less. All of these institutions received government subventions which included 90 percent of teachers' salary and other grants.

Girls have not fared as well as the boys. An average of six percentage point difference in favour of boys has persisted in the last three years in the total pass rates for all secondary level examinations. In 2005, the overall pass rate was 56.66 percent for boys and 50.94 percent for girls. The disadvantage of girls has been found at all levels of GPA scores. Among total candidates, 45 percent were girls.

The SSC results clearly indicate a serious problem with the way the schools are run, teaching and learning is carried out, and educational access and opportunities are distributed. If the right to quality education were guaranteed to all children, at least three times the 2005 number of about 1 million should have been candidates for SSC level examinations, and almost all should have passed the examination to acquire a school leaving certificate.

The overall quality and equity issues in education can be addressed only through a sustained process of reforms in governance of the education system backed up by political commitment as has been pointed out in many public forums and education studies.

The SSC results also point to problems regarding the validity and reliability of the examination system itself. The large variations over time and among different boards, and uncertainty about what the scores really mean indicated need for a systematic and permanent research and professional capacity building programme on the examination system and learning assessment.

It should be recognised that education assessment is a highly specialised and technical subject. Mistakes and deficiencies in this respect have serious consequences for individuals and the society. The Education Boards should urgently seek the cooperation of national institutions such as the Institute of Education and Research, Dhaka University and the Institute of Education and Development, BRAC University in jointly initiating a research and technical capacity building programme on the examination system.

The authors are, respectively, the director and a researcher at the Institute of Education and Development, BRAC University