Last year, more than 65 lakh students across the country could not clear the class 10th and 12th board exams. The failure rate in various state boards was higher than that of the central board. This information was given by the officials of the Ministry of Education (MoE). An analysis of the class 10th and 12th results of 59 school boards including 56 state boards and three national boards in the country showed that more girls appeared in the class 12th examination from government schools, but the situation is the opposite in private schools and government-aided schools.
A senior official of the Education Ministry said, “About 33.5 lakh students of class 10th could not move to the next class. 5.5 lakh candidates did not appear in the examination, while 28 lakh failed.”
Similarly, around 32.4 lakh students of Class 12 could not complete their studies. While 5.2 lakh students did not appear for the exams, 27.2 lakh students failed. In Class 10, the failure rate of students in the central board was six per cent, while in the state board it was 16 per cent. In Class 12, the failure rate in the central board is 12 per cent, while in the state board it is 18 per cent.
Ministry officials said that the performance of open schools was poor in both the classes. In class 10, the highest number of students who failed were from Madhya Pradesh board, followed by Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. While in class 12, the highest number of students who failed were from Uttar Pradesh, followed by Madhya Pradesh.
“The overall performance of students in 2023 has declined as compared to the previous year. This may be due to the larger syllabus for the exam,” the official said. More girls than boys appeared in the class 10th and 12th board examinations from government schools.
“This reflects gender bias in spending on education by parents,” the official said. A total of 59 exam boards declared their results, including three national boards and 56 state boards. The exams covered a wide range of syllabi, with some boards following non-NCERT syllabi. Despite the large number of students, the pass percentage reflects a worrying trend.
In Class 10, 84.9 per cent of the nearly 1.85 crore students who appeared for the board exams passed. However, about 33.5 lakh students could not proceed to Class 11 due to failing or being absent. In Class 12, about 82.5 per cent of the 1.55 crore students who appeared passed. Nepali and Manipuri languages had the highest pass rates (85.3 per cent each). A significant number of students, 32.4 lakh, did not complete Class 12 education, either failing or not appearing for the exams.
Overall, over 55 lakh candidates failed to clear the Class 10 and 12 board exams in 2023. No significant difference was observed in the performance of students who took the exams in different languages for both Class 10 and 12. However, disparities are evident across regions and types of boards, highlighting the need for standardisation.
