Message HSC results give

If Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and equivalent results are the first stepping stone, the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) exam scores provide for the final platform for entering higher education in this country. When the just published HSC exam results are given a cursory look, there are reasons to be disappointed primarily because of the straightway drop of 7.31 per cent pass rate and the number of grade point average (GPA)-5 achievers this time compared to the previous year. But when the picture is presented objectively, there is nothing to be surprised at this apparent reversal. For straight three years candidates of both public examinations had to sit either for truncated syllabus or subjects with automatic pass in 2020 for Covid-19. This batch of examinees were in class IX or X at that time and also passed the SCC exam held on shortened syllabus and that too for only three subjects. Moreover, examinees had to attempt only 50 marks in each subject and the time of exam was halved to one and a half hours.
This year's exam was held for all subjects bearing full 100 marks, except for ICT which had 75 marks. So, the students who did not face the full exams either in class IX and X and more importantly at the SSC level found the task rather difficult, only more so with their weak foundation because of the disruption of academic studies during the pandemic and its escalating impacts. Although the syllabus was abridged, examinees found the entire exercise arduous because of a lack of recovery lessons in most educational institutions. Again, the fortunate few in cities and towns with access to expert tutors and coaching staff could make up for the loss of education but the rest had no such luck.
On that count, examinees rather deserve kudos for their achievements. Today's education, not just in this country, almost the world over is the other name of orientation for building careers. In some countries such as Canada, the state policy is not to pull out more than 5.0 per cent from the students' pool to the level of tertiary education. It is only the exceptionally talented students who can make it to the tertiary level of education. There is hardly any point of producing higher educated graduates and post-graduates if a large number of them remain unemployed or fail to become entrepreneurs. From this perspective the percentage of HSC-passed students aspiring for higher studies has the real value. At the end of the day, what matters is their quality. Admittedly, the quality or standard of education leaves much to be desired.
That the Bangladesh Technical Education Board and the Bangladesh Madrasah Education Board have outperformed the nine general education boards does not mean their examinees will do so in admission tests of medical colleges or universities. Similarly, girls who have been doing better for the past 14 years ---this time their pass rate and GPA-5 scorers are 5.61 per cent higher and 3,201 more ---at a stretch are unlikely to outshine their male counterparts at higher studies. The mismatch between different streams of education and also between education and socio-economic conditions gives the more privileged an advantage to shine. GPA-5 is no sure recipe for success in life but it can be of some help. Let the quality of general education be equal to decent livelihood adaptation for all students irrespective of their standings.