Declining pass percentage
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: May 16, 2014 -

Bringing cheers to those who got through while gloom to those who could not made it, the results of two of the most important public examinations that every student have to face in their academic career have been declared one after the other.

The results of the Higher Secondary Examination-2014 conducted by Council of Higher Secondary Education, Manipur (COHSEM) for students of class XII standard were declared on May 13 while that of the High School Leaving Certificate Examination-2014 conducted by the Board of Secondary Education, Manipur (BSEM) for students of class X came out on May 15.

These two examinations are regarded as the most important public examinations that the students have to write in their academic career as their future is going to be decided base on their performance in these two examinations.

Which stream of study one is going to take up depends largely on the marks scored by the students in these examinations.

So, apart from students themselves or their parents and teachers; everyone, even who is remotely connected, are always anxious to know the results of these two examinations so much so that when would the results be out remains one fixation in their mind.

When the results were out too, who scores the highest mark, who are the toppers and which school produces the highest number of position holders remains the talk of the town for days and months.

However, in spite of the importance of these two examinations, it is really disheartening to know that pass percentage recorded in both the Higher Secondary Examination and the High School Leaving Certificate Examination has consistently shown a declining trend over the years.

The result of Higher Secondary Examination-2014 has recorded just 76.89 pass percentage, which is a decline of 4.5 percent from last year’s pass percentage of 81.44.

In fact, it is for the third consecutive year that the pass percentage in Higher Secondary Examination in the State has shown a downslide from 82.86 in 2012 to 81.44 in 2013 and now to 76.89.

Similarly, the result of High School Leaving Certificate Examination-2014, which was declared on May 15, has witnessed the lowest pass percentage in the last three years at 68.

In 2011, the pass percentage recorded was 71 and it came down to 70 in 2012.

By 2013, there was some slight improvement in the pass percentage at 72.

But this year, it has nose-dived to 68.

Along with the steady decline in the pass percentage of students in both the Higher Secondary Examination and the High School Leaving Certificate Examination, the number of students enrolled for these examinations has also decreased year after year.

All these signs are surely not good for a State which is trying to project itself as the destination for Education Tourism.

It is high time for all concerned in the State to bring their heads together to identity the factors responsible and the solution to the steady decline in pass percentage as well as in enrolment of students in the two most important public examinations that every student needs to face for shaping their future career.