Published : 01 Nov 2026, 01:04 AM
Updated : 01 Nov 2026, 01:04 AM
The numbers told a story that few in Bangladesh’s education system wanted to see. After years of disruption, the Higher Secondary Certificate examination has delivered its worst results in more than two decades, exposing weaknesses that officials say can no longer be ignored.
Only 52.12 percent of candidates passed this year’s HSC and equivalent examinations, the lowest rate since 2004.
The result has left education officials both disappointed and surprised, while reigniting questions about what students are learning, how they are being taught and whether their examination scripts are being marked consistently.
Of the students who passed, 40,084 secured GPA-5, accounting for 6.2 percent of successful candidates. Last year, the pass rate was 58.83 percent, with 69,097 students achieving the highest grade.
The pass rate has fallen by 6.71 percentage points, while the number of GPA-5 achievers has dropped by 29,013.
The results, published on Saturday, point to poor performances in English, Accounting and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) across the nine general education boards.
Officials have cited learning gaps, uneven teaching standards, and stricter assessment as factors behind the decline.
Education Advisor Mahdi Amin said the government had ensured impartial marking in its first HSC examinations since taking office.
“We have ensured impartial assessment in this first HSC and equivalent examination organised by our elected government. We want to ensure the highest recognition based on how each student has performed in the examination, and, for the first time, there will be a full re-evaluation.”
He said the education ministry was considering holding fresh examinations within a month, if possible, for students who had failed in one or two subjects.
Education Minister ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon acknowledged shortcomings in the learning process, saying such a decline was never desirable.
“There are shortcomings in our learning methods, among parents and in the environment. We must reassess all these shortcomings and address them -- that is our responsibility.”
He also urged parents and teachers to take a more active role in improving students’ learning.
The examinations began on Jul 2 and ended on Aug 8, with practical tests scheduled to finish by Aug 15. Natural disasters forced the postponement of examinations in five districts under the Chattogram board.
Students had also staged protests in Dhaka demanding that examinations be deferred because of the disruption in Chattogram and Sylhet, blocking roads and clashing with police.
Some called for the education minister’s resignation over the government’s refusal to postpone the examinations nationwide.
The Chattogram board eventually rescheduled several written papers while allowing others to proceed. Its written examinations ended on Sept 9.
English, Accounting and ICT Take a Toll
The subject-wise figures offer a clearer picture of the decline.
Across the nine general education boards, pass rates in English ranged between 54 and 59 percent in five boards.
In Accounting, three boards recorded pass rates of just 52 to 53 percent. ICT results were relatively better, with six boards reporting pass rates above 70 percent and the remaining three above 60 percent.
The poor performance in English and Accounting helped push the Barishal Board to the bottom of the rankings, with a pass rate of just 44.84 percent.
Only 54.08 percent passed English there, while the figure for Accounting was 52.20 percent. The ICT pass rate stood at 66.42 percent.
Barishal education board’s Controller of Examinations Prof Sharif Morshed Reza said he was both disappointed and surprised.
“Perhaps a situation like this has emerged after many years. Only 44.84 percent have passed. I am disappointed too. Why did this happen?
“Maybe students did not understand their lessons properly in class, or there may be shortcomings among teachers. This decline has come as a surprise to me and is disappointing.”
He also pointed to commercial interests among some English and Accounting teachers.
“I am not saying our teachers are without fault. There are shortcomings as well as strengths. Some teachers, however, approach this learning process with a commercial mindset.”
The Rajshahi board recorded a pass rate of 45.06 percent, the third-lowest among the boards. English and Accounting pass rates were 56 percent and 52.84 percent respectively, while 68.74 percent passed ICT.
Board Chairman Prof Shamim Ara Chowdhury said Accounting was a particularly difficult subject for business studies students, while shortages of qualified teachers were affecting all three subjects.
“Accounting is a hard subject among the commerce subjects. Students cannot master it.
“There are no good teachers right down to the grassroots level. The same is true of ICT. There are no good ICT teachers, and it is the same with English. That is why students in remote areas struggle to master these subjects. As a result, the number of failures in these subjects is higher.”
The Jashore board, which ranked second from the bottom, recorded an English pass rate of 54.95 percent. Its ICT and Accounting pass rates were 67.84 percent and 76.22 percent respectively.
Controller of Examinations Prof SM Hossain Ali said students had received the marks they deserved, but acknowledged a divide between urban and rural learners.
“We have shown no leniency in assessment or in the examination results. Everyone has been treated according to what they deserve.
“The question papers are the same for all students across the country. The education of a boy in Dhaka city will not be the same as that of a boy in Sharankhola. That is why results in remote areas are comparatively poor, while those in cities are better.”
The pattern extended to other boards. English pass rates were 56 percent in Dinajpur and 59.11 percent in Mymensingh. Accounting pass rates were 53 percent and 57.96 percent respectively, while ICT recorded 72.64 percent in Dinajpur and 71.39 percent in Mymensingh.
Overall, 45.98 percent passed under the Dinajpur board and 51.44 percent under Mymensingh.
Prof Md Mojibur Rahman of the Dhaka University’s Institute of Education and Research (IER) said the results exposed structural weaknesses in subjects that depend heavily on practical skills.
“English, Accounting and ICT are essentially skill-based subjects, where our fundamental structural weaknesses have become evident.”
He said shortages of qualified subject teachers at secondary level had forced schools to send teachers of other subjects into classrooms after short-term training.
“As a result, students arrive at higher secondary level with a 10-year learning gap, which cannot be bridged within the limited period of just two years.”
Teacher shortages, excessive class loads and inadequate laboratories and equipment were also preventing students from building a sound foundation, he said.
“Rather than moving towards new subjects without addressing weaknesses in language and institutional capacity, improving the quality of mother-tongue Bangla and basic English education is now the most urgent priority.”
How Impartial Was the Assessment?
While board officials have defended the strict marking process, the education minister has raised questions about the quality of assessment.
Speaking at the results announcement, Milon said the government would review examination procedures, train examiners and take action against those whose marking showed excessive variation.
“We will re-examine our examination system. Work is also under way on training programmes for examiners and measures to punish those who have shown excessive variation in marking.”
The government amended the Public Examinations Act 1980 to allow students to seek full re-evaluation of their answer scripts, beginning with this year’s SSC examinations.
Milon said nearly 1.3 million scripts had been rechecked after the 2026 SSC results were published. Grades changed for 45,000 students nationwide.
“Five thousand students moved from failing to passing, and 3,079 students had their grades changed to the highest GPA-5.”
He said the government was examining why so many results had changed and whether examiners had made mistakes.
“Many results have changed. We will see what happens this time. We are looking into whether there are shortcomings among our teachers and examiners.
“For now, we can say that although we are concerned about the results, we have not yet determined whether there are errors in them. That will become clear after re-examination.”
Jashore board’s Hossain Ali, however, said the changes were not unusually high given the number of candidates. He attributed some adjustments to errors in addition and subtraction rather than flawed marking.
“If 5,000 students pass out of 1 million, that is not such a large number. Sometimes there are changes because of addition and subtraction errors. In such cases, only the marks obtained are added up; the marks awarded during script evaluation remain unchanged.”
He said boards had already taken action against examiners over serious irregularities, including suspending several chief examiners from script assessment and barring others from examination-related duties for a year or across all boards.
Rajshahi board Chairman Shamim Ara said the changes following SSC script re-evaluation in her board had also been limited. Of 98,000 scripts, grades changed for 1,400 students, while the number of GPA-5 achievers increased by 200.
“There were various problems with addition and subtraction. This number is balanced,” she said.
Students can apply to have all their HSC answer scripts re-evaluated between Nov 1 and 7. Whether that exercise will reveal flaws in marking -- or reinforce the picture of deeper learning deficits -- remains to be seen.
