The Nagaland Board of School Education has just declared the results of the HSLC and HSSLC examinations 2022 and, while we congratulate the successful candidates, the numbers reveal some interesting details. But before we go into the numbers, this column would like to congratulate all the successful candidates who have qualified the HSLC and HSSLC examinations. It is also a proud moment for the district as a whole because four of our students have made it to the Top 20 list in the HSLC exam results. Credit is also given to the two schools, QMHSS and Children School, for producing the toppers.
Now, coming back to the numbers, it is pertinent to note here that a total of 28938 students appeared for the HSLC exam this year, out of which 18721 have qualified. The qualified percentage is 64.69, the lowest in the last 6 years. Here, it is to be noted that 10,217 candidates failed to qualify this year. Yes, 10,217 students! That is a very big number for a small state like Nagaland.
On closer observation, it is seen that the private schools registered an 82.08% pass percentage while the government schools registered a paltry 36.62% pass percentage. Which means, of the 10,217 students who failed to qualify, more than two-thirds of them were from the government schools. This is a very big disparity that needs to be urgently fixed. Similar number of students have been appearing for the HSLC exams over the years and the pass percentage has constantly remained between 60% to 70% which means that about 10,000 students have, every year, failed to qualify. It is not sure if there is readymade data available or not but in all likelihood, most of the students who failed will end up dropping out of school. And that is where the problem arises.
Secondly, for as long as one can remember, the girls have been outperforming the boys year after year in the HSLC exams. Even the enrollment suggests that there are more girls attending school than boys. This, quite paradoxically, is happening when the sex ratio of the state suggests that there are more boys than girls. This is quite alarming because it is a clear sign of an impending social problem which, if left unchecked, can become a full blown sociological problem. While this aspect remains to be thoroughly investigated, the local media houses are not helping when they project the results as if it were a ‘boys versus girls’ competition. As suggested in this column earlier, it is not a question of why girls are performing better than boys but why boys are consistently failing to perform better.
This year, a total of 1416 students appeared for the HSLC exams in Mokokchung district. For want of time, it was not possible to ascertain how many students failed. Since there is no think tank to undertake research on the numbers, the AKM might want to take it up because we need to do the research and seek a solution based on the findings. Meanwhile, it is recommended that vocational skills training centers be given more attention because academic careers alone are not for everyone.