4,585 students who failed SSC now pass after rescrutiny

A total of 4,585 students who had failed in this year's SSC and equivalent examinations have passed after the review of their answer scripts under the rescrutiny process, according to revised results published today.

The revised results also showed that 3,079 students newly secured GPA-5, taking the total number of GPA-5 achievers in this year's SSC and equivalent examinations to 119,755, up from the earlier 116,676, according to the Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee.

The rescrutiny process changed marks for 56,259 students and revised grades or GPA for 27,836 students, committee data showed. A total of 402,052 students applied for review of 1,056,458 answer scripts across the country's 11 education boards.

The scale of the review puts the changes in context: applicants submitted an average of roughly 2.6 answer scripts each for reassessment, while roughly one in every seven applicants (56,259 out of 402,052) saw their marks changed.

A smaller share, about one in 14 applicants, or 27,836 students, had their grades or GPA revised.

Among the nine general education boards, Mymensingh recorded the highest number of students moving from fail to pass, with 1,180 students, followed by Dinajpur with 867 and Jashore with 380.

The numbers were 337 in Dhaka, 336 in Cumilla, 190 in Chattogram, 186 in Sylhet, 111 in Rajshahi and 79 in Barishal.

In the Madrasah Board, 255 students moved from fail to pass, while the figure was 664 in the Technical Education Board.

Prof Syed Akhteruzzaman, chairman of the Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee, said the answer scripts were reviewed in two stages.

"Rescrutiny was done with responsibility. But changes often occur during such reviews. This time, perhaps the number of changes was higher," he told The Daily Star.

He said teachers' assessment approaches could also have influenced the outcome.

"Teachers' attitudes have also changed, undoubtedly," he said.

Explaining the rise in GPA-5 numbers, Prof Syed said even a marginal increase in marks could shift a student's final grade.

"For example, a student may have received 75 marks initially, but during reassessment it was found that the student deserved 80. Even a small increase can result in a change in GPA-5," he said.

He added that some high-performing students had also benefited from the review.

"Some changes among good students were also positive. The rescrutiny was justified, and it is clear that it was needed," he said.

The SSC and equivalent examinations were held earlier this year, with results published on August 10. The original results showed 1,138,877 students passed out of 1,829,485 examinees, a pass rate of 62.25 percent, with 116,676 GPA-5 achievers before the revised results.

The pass rate has edged up from 62.25 percent to 62.50 percent following the addition of the 4,585 new passers, while the GPA-5 tally has risen by about 2.6 percent.