Teachers point to Covid-19 changes as reason for drop

Officials from CBSE and educationists attributed the variations in results to the changes in evaluation processes before and after the pandemic

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Friday announced the examination results of classes 10 and 12 with the overall pass percentage decreasing for both grades compared to 2022, when the exams were conducted in two parts due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, this year’s performance remained higher than the pre-pandemic year 2019.

Students celebrate after CBSE results on Friday. (HT Photo)

Officials from CBSE and educationists attributed the variations in results to the changes in evaluation processes before and after the pandemic.

While the overall pass percentage of Class 10 this year was 93.12%, 1.28 percentage points lower than in 2022, for Class 12, it was 87.33%, 5.38 percentage points lower than in 2022. In 2019, the pass percentage of classes 10 and 12 were 91.1%, and 83.4 %, respectively.

The number of students who scored above 90 and 95 also decreased in both classes compared to the last year. As many as 195,799 Class 10 scored 90% and above marks compared to last year’s 236,993, and 44,297 candidates scored 95% and above against 64,908 last year.

In Class 12, as many as 112,838 students scored 90% and above marks this year compared to the 134,797 students last year while 22,622 scored 95% and above compared to the 33,432 students in 2022.

However, the number of toppers in Class 12 this time remained higher than in 2019.

Officials at CBSE said that the result should be compared to the pre-pandemic year when the exams for all subjects were conducted in an annual mode without any deviation from the norms.

“Last year, the exam was conducted in two parts and the syllabus was divided accordingly. This time, the board resumed the annual one-term practice where students appeared for the entire syllabus at once. Therefore, compared to the pre-pandemic year, 2019, the pass percentage has increased,” said an official, requesting anonymity.

Experts also cited Covid-19 induced changes as the reason behind the drop in pass percentage this year.

Jyoti Arora, principal of Mount Abu School in Delhi, said that students who gave the Class 12 exams this year did not have a prior experience of appearing for them. “The board could not conduct the exams in 2021 due to the pandemic, and the results were declared using an alternate method of evaluation. This batch was appearing for the first time. This could have also affected the overall performance,” said Arora.

Arora also said that many students were focussing on preparing for the Common University Entrance Test (CUET). “Now board exams won’t help students get college admissions, so they may not focus much on them,” said Arora.

In 2020 and 2021, the results for both classes were declared based on the Supreme Court-approved tabulation policy. While some exams could not be held in 2020, the board had to call off all the exams in 2021.

To avoid what happened in 2020 and 2021, the board conducted exams in two terms for the 2022 batch. Students’ performances during the two terms were given a 30:70 weightage by the board while declaring the final results. The board resumed single-term annual exams for the 2022-23 batch.

The exams for Class 10 were held between February 15 and March 21, and for Class 12, they were held between February 15 and April 5.

In a series of tweets, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated students who cleared the exams. “I congratulate all the #ExamWarriors who have successfully passed the CBSE Class XII examinations. I am proud of these youngsters for their hard work and determination,” Modi tweeted.

Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan also congratulated students and urged them not to feel disheartened in case the results did not meet their expectations. “Many friends might not have met expectations. I appeal to them to not lose heart. One examination does not define a person’s ability. Keep working hard and chase your dreams. Success comes to those who never give up,” he tweeted.

According to the board, 1,660,511 students appeared in the Class 12 examination this year, out of which 1,450,174 passed, while 2,165,805 appeared for the Class 10 board exam, out of which 2,016,779 cleared it.

Like last year, girls performed better than boys by 1.98% in Class 10 and 6% in Class 12.

In Class 10, while the overall pass percentage of girls stood at 94.25%, 92.27% of boys passed the exams. Whereas, in Class 12, the overall pass percentage of girls was 90.68% and 84.67% for boys.

The pass percentage among transgender students was 60% in Class 12 and 90% in Class 10.

In region-wise performance, Thiruvananthapuram fared the best in both classes with an overall pass percentage of 99.91%. The lowest performing region in Class 12 was Prayagraj with a 78.05% pass percentage, and for Class 10 it was Guwahati at 76.9%.

Like previous years, Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNV) performed the best in both classes with a pass percentage of 99.14% in Class 12 and 97.51% in Class 10.