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Published : 16 Oct 2025, 07:27 PM
The Dhaka education board’s Chairman Prof Khondokar Ehsanul Kabir has said the 2025 Higher Secondary Certificate and equivalent results are “realistic”, despite recording the lowest pass rate in two decades.
Speaking at a media briefing on the results on Thursday, Kabir said, while the percentage of passing students and GPA-5 achievers is lower than previous years, the outcome should be viewed as reflective of actual performance rather than inherently bad.
Asked whether the results were “bad” or “real”, he said: “It is a comparative issue. Looking at past years, the percentage is lower, the number of GPA-5 students is lower, and fewer institutions achieved a 100 percent pass. In several indicators, multiple indexes have declined. This is the reality.”
Kabir highlighted regional disparities to contextualise the results. While Dhaka city recorded an 84 percent pass rate, districts under the Dhaka Board showed far lower figures: Shariatpur and Gopalganj at 42 percent, Tangail 44 percent, Narsingdi 68 percent, and Rajbari around 46 percent.
“This reality has come before us. We did not fabricate it. If you call it bad, I will say it is not,” Kabir said.
“In Dhaka city, the performance is very good or appropriate. But if 16 percent failed in Dhaka city, even the 84 percent pass cannot be considered flawless -- it’s a large number, after all.”
This year, 58.83 percent of students passed, marking the lowest pass rate in 20 years. Among them, 69,097 students secured GPA-5, representing 9.5 percent of the total passers.
By contrast, in 2024, the pass rate was 77.78 percent, with 145,911 students attaining GPA-5.
Kabir stressed the integrity of the evaluation process, saying: “We consider that answer scripts were assessed properly, and the results reflect this. We need to examine which students or areas performed poorly.”
He added that boards outside Dhaka city are expected to show comparatively lower outcomes.
On concerns of manipulating marks, he said: “We never instructed examiners to follow a set framework, give extra marks, or increase pass rates. No such directive was issued by the board.”
“Instructions for grading have existed since SSC exams. Our trained evaluators follow long-standing practices, and any minor leniencies are unnecessary,” he said.
