Cuttack/Bhubaneswar, June 25: The pass percentage in this year’s matriculation was a disappointing 66.75 per cent, falling by five per cent from the previous year. Over one lakh students failed to clear the high school certificate (HSC) examination. This year’s HSC results were announced in Cuttack this morning by the Board of Secondary Education (BSE), Orissa.
While 1,36,425 students failed to pass the exam, 193 schools recorded zero results.
Sarthak Pradhan of Saraswati Vidya Mandir, Balangir, has aggregated the highest marks — 586 out of 600 — which is an all-time record in matriculation examinations in the state. Until now, the highest mark secured by a student in HSC was 576.
Students can get their original marksheets and provisional certificates within the next seven days through their respective schools.
Of the 4,75,345 candidates who had appeared for the examination, 2,94,498 passed in regular, ex-regular and correspondence courses. The divisional break-up of the passed candidates showed that 54,666 students obtained first division, 68,674 secured second division and 1,60,906 were placed in the third division. The result of 7,929 students, booked for malpractice, has been withheld by the board.
The pass percentage for regular students was 66.75 per cent. For ex-regular students, it was 36.02 per cent. Among the districts, Dhenkanal recorded the highest pass percentage with 79.55 per cent while Kandhamal was placed at the bottom with 49.19 per cent.
This time around, boys have outshone girls. In the top 10 list announced by BSE, 21 out of 23 rank holders are boys. The total pass percentage of boys stood at 52.01, and for girls, it was 47.91. In the top-100 list, there were 106 names with 47 students of the various Saraswati Sishu Vidya Mandirs.
BSE officials said the pass score in government schools was 68.36 per cent, 61.29 per cent for aided schools, while the block grant schools have registered a pass percentage of 61.19 per cent and 67.01 for unaided schools.
School and mass education minister Pratap Jena said he was “disappointed” as the results were “not up to the mark” this time.
“We would do a thorough analysis of the reasons behind such poor results and non-performance of the 193 schools,” said Jena.
On the other hand, the department’s secretary Aparajita Sarangi said the fall in pass percentage could be attributed to stricter invigilation by 120 squads during the exams.
“We would review the overall results and look into the schools which have recorded nil results. From the next academic session onwards, we would give more emphasis on all district schools in the state,” Sarangi said.
