The number of students taking part in this year’s Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and equivalent examinations, which began on Thursday, has declined significantly, with nearly 100,000 fewer candidates than the previous year.
A total of 19,28,181 students sat for the SSC and equivalent exams across Bangladesh, marking the lowest participation in the last five years.
In 2024, the number stood at 20,24,192; in 2023, it was 20,72,163; in 2022, 19,94,137; and in 2021, 22,40,395, according to the Ministry of Education.
The fall in candidate numbers has had direct implications.
The Dhaka Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education has cancelled 13 examination centres for the upcoming HSC and equivalent exams due to insufficient student registrations. The names and codes of these centres have already been published.
A worrying trend of dropouts
Experts say the declining number of SSC candidates is primarily due to the growing dropout rate in the education system. Over the past seven years, 1.4 million students have dropped out at the secondary and higher secondary levels.
In 2016, more than 28 lakh students passed the Primary Education Completion and Ebtedayi examinations. Under normal progression, they would be expected to sit for the HSC exams in 2023.
However, only 14,50,790 students took the HSC exams last year—less than half of those who began their academic journey in 2016.
A professor at the Institute of Education and Research, University of Dhaka, attributes the decline in SSC examinees to two main reasons.
“First, the mainstream dropout problem hasn’t been resolved,” he said. “Second, reductions in the education stipend programme have discouraged many families from continuing their children’s education up to SSC level.”
Additionally, after the COVID-19 pandemic, a noticeable shift has occurred. Many students have moved away from mainstream general education towards Qawmi madrasa or Hafezi education, which do not follow the SSC curriculum.
Even within the Aliya and Ebtedayi madrasa systems, enrolment has dropped, further contributing to the decline in SSC candidates.
The drop in SSC examinees highlights a broader concern about access, affordability, and retention within Bangladesh’s education system—issues that experts say require urgent policy attention and systemic reform.
