Despite government efforts to improve the overall standard of education in the country, rural institutions still lag far behind their urban counterparts in terms of results in public examinations.
The trend is evident in this year's HSC examination results, which show that the traditionally renowned institutions, particularly in metropolitan areas, remain the best performers dominating the list of top achievers under each education board.
Educationists observe that most urban students fare better than the rural learners as they have access to better teachers and extensive classroom activities.
The pass rate in the HSC exams stands at 71.13 percent this year. Of the 5,79,297 successful students under eight education boards, 46,736 secured the highest grade GPA-5. Most of the unsuccessful students are from rural institutions, said sources in boards.
In Dhaka board, only four colleges of the top 20 are from outside of the capital. However, all of them are either in the metropolitan or municipality area.
Of the top 160 institutions in the country, 54 are government colleges in districts. They have quality teachers and most of their students are from well-off families.
A significant number of the remaining institutions are either cadet colleges or run by a defence force such as the army.
In Jessore and Rajshahi boards, 11 of the top 20 institutions are public schools, while the rest are either cadet colleges or specialised schools.
Besides, around half of the total GPA-5 achievers are from Dhaka board. A total of 22,347 students obtained the highest grade in this board. Of them, 15,931 are from Dhaka metropolitan area.
Under this board, pass percentage in Dhaka city is 87.59, while it is 60.25 in Shariatpur, 61.27 in Rajbari, 62.13 in Sherpur and 62.25 in Netrakona. Even, Manikganj, one of the nearest districts of Dhaka, has a pass rate of 65.53 percent.
Talking about the trend, educationist Rasheda K Choudhury said the institutions, which got more government investment, do better in the examination. Cadet colleges fare better in public exams as the state invests heavily in these institutions.
On the other hand, the students in city institutions like Rajuk Uttara Model College and Viqarunnisa Noon School and College are more privileged as their family invest more for their better education, she added.
“In contrast, the students from rural institutions received lesser state investment along with less family inputs, which is why they couldn't do better," she pointed out, suggesting more investment, training and other educational facilities for the rural institutions.
CENT PERCENT PASS AND FAIL
This year, the number of institutions with cent percent pass rate has decreased significantly. On the other hand, the number of institutions with zero percent pass rate has soared slightly.
A total 849 institutions under 10 education boards achieved cent percent success, while 25 have no success at all. Last year, the numbers were 1,036 and 24 respectively.
Of the successful institutions, 24 are in Dhaka, nine in Rajshahi, seven in Comilla, three each in Jessore and Barisal, two in Chittagong and eight each in Sylhet and Dinajpur boards.