& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Fall in HSC Pass Rate

New style English second paper mainly blamed

Najmul Alam Nobin
The pass percentage and number of GPA-5 achievers in this year's Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examinations saw a drop due to sudden introduction of a new system of learning and question pattern of English second paper.
Expressing this view, chairmen of some education boards told The Daily Star that students from rural colleges were affected more
because of this change.
They also said questions for science group examinees were a bit tough this year, contributing to the fall in overall results.
English second paper this time carried 40 marks for questions from grammar.
The pass rate of HSC examinations under the eight education boards in the country came down to 70.43 percent from last year's 74.85, marking a fall of 4.42 points. And 18,222 students got GPA (Grade Point Average) -5 this year compared to 19,108 last year.
The combined pass percentage of eight education boards, the Madrasa Education Board and the Technical Education Board also dropped to 72.78 percent from last year's 76.19, decreas-ingby3.41 points.
This year. 70.69 percent students passed from science group. 64.26 percent from humanities and 79.63 percent from commerce.
Chairmen of the boards noted that lack of training of the teachers concerning the changes made in English second paper was also a cause of the students' relatively poor performance in the subject.
Some of them also said that last year they were instructed to assess the answer sheets liberally, but this year they did the job properly.
Contacted, Chairman of Dinajpur board Prof Mohammad Sanaullah said, "Out of 25,000 failed students, 21.000 failed in English. This showed that the newly introduced system of English learning was difficult for the students."
Under this board, HSC exams were held for the first time this year and the pass percentage was 55.9 - much lower than that of the other boards.
Sanaullah said they would ask the colleges with high rate of failure in English to take special classes in the subject.
Rajshahi Board Chairman Prof Dipakindra Nath Das told The Daily Star, "A sudden shift to a new system (English learning) with questions from grammar puzzled the students. The teachers too had difficulty in understanding’ the question pattern."
He said the system could be introduced a year or two after giving the teachers required training.
The board secured 70.47 percent pass this year.
Dipakindra further said, "This year the answer sheets were assessed properly. The examiners were a bit liberal in giving marks last year as they were instructed to do so. I hope the results will be better next year."
Chittagong board Chairman Prof Mohammad Yusuf said it is not that HSC exam results are poor this year because five out of the eight boards have done well. "I think quality education has been ensured this year."
He went on, "The slight decline in the pass rate is because of the new system of teaching English second paper. The rural students were affected more as, unlike the urban students, they could not get required guidance from trained teachers."
Training of teachers should be a continuous process because newer systems are introduced every year, Yusuf noted.
This year Chittagong board secured a pass rate of 76.31.