HSC results—sliding pass rate
While the pass rate is not necessarily the only index of the level of knowledge of the students and the standard of education at secondary and higher secondary levels, it is admittedly a very important indicator of the quality of the pupils that go through these exams. It is worrying that the success rate in the HSC exams has seen a downward trend over the last two years. This year's has been the worst in the last eleven. But there are both positives and negatives in this year's results. While the number of colleges with hundred percent pass have decreased, it is encouraging that the number of colleges with hundred percent failure has decreased too. Unfortunately, the gap between the rural and the urban colleges has not decreased. Also discouraging is the fact the number of students in science is declining.
One of the reasons of comparatively poor performance is that the dangerous trend of question leakage that had become almost epidemic, was stymied fully, and the credit must go to all those involved in the system. Strict marking of scripts is also a reason for the fewer number of examinees qualifying this year. However, what is of worry is the increase in the number of failures in English as well as Physics and ICT.
Because we are entering the digital age at a very fast pace, there is no alternative for the future generation than to acquire proficiency in ICT. And given that English is one of the few international lingua franca, which is virtually our second language, the overall standard of English generally attained by the students at this level is rather disheartening.
While we congratulate the successful students and commiserate with the unsuccessful ones, we would call upon the government to remove the problems in order to provide the best education. Getting good teachers in English and Physics should be given top priority, so must be the urban colleges that do not normally attract good teachers.
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