Girls extended their 11-year streak of outperforming boys in the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and equivalent examinations, helping cushion an otherwise dismal national result.
Of 18,29,485 examinees under the 11 education boards, 11,38,877 passed this year, putting the overall pass rate at 62.26 per cent — the lowest since 2007, when it was close to 58 per cent.
Girls posted a pass rate of 66.68 per cent, compared with 57.86 per cent for boys, giving them a lead of nearly 9 percentage points.
They also dominated the GPA-5 results. Of the 1,16,676 examinees who secured the highest grade, 63,896 were girls and 52,780 were boys.
Girls first overtook boys in the pass rate in 2016 and have remained ahead since.
Boys came closest to matching them in 2022, when girls recorded a pass rate of 87.71 per cent against 87.16 per cent for boys. Girls, however, still led by more than 27,000 in securing GPA-5.
In 2018, girls were ahead in the pass rate, but boys narrowly led in GPA-5, with 55,701 boys and 54,928 girls securing the highest grade.
From 2010 to 2015, boys had higher pass rates than girls.
Former University Grants Commission member Mohammad Anwar Hossen told TIMES of Bangladesh that girls’ continued success was notable given the socio-economic and family barriers they often face.
“Girls face many barriers to education in the country because of various socio-economic and family pressures and complexities. It is commendable that, despite overcoming all these challenges, our girls have continued to achieve good results,” he said.
“But they are unable to maintain this trend in higher education. We need to be more conscious about this. The state and families must come forward; otherwise, the country will not be able to move forward,” he added.
Results in numbers
Under the nine general education boards, 14,04,539 students sat the SSC examination. Of them, 8,99,610 passed, resulting in a pass rate of 64.05 per cent, while 1,06,009 secured GPA-5.
Under the Madrasa Education Board, 1,64,797 of 2,96,982 examinees passed, resulting in a pass rate of 55.49 per cent. A total of 6,716 secured GPA-5.
Under the Technical Education Board, the pass rate among 1,27,964 SSC and Dakhil (Vocational) examinees was 58.20 per cent, with 3,951 securing GPA-5.
Dhaka recorded the highest pass rate at 71.63 per cent, with 33,253 students securing GPA-5.
The pass rates were 66.27 per cent in Jashore, 65.42 per cent in Cumilla, 63.67 per cent in Rajshahi, 60.35 per cent in Barishal, 59.48 per cent in Chattogram, 58.33 per cent in Sylhet, 58.05 per cent in Dinajpur and 57.39 per cent in Mymensingh.
GPA-5 achievers numbered 16,113 in Rajshahi, 13,639 in Dinajpur, 11,478 in Jashore, 9,814 in Cumilla, 9,398 in Chattogram, 5,700 in Mymensingh, 3,836 in Sylhet and 2,778 in Barishal.
