Only 20% school age students appear in SSC exams

Islamabad
Alif Ailaan report on ‘Education in Balochistan’ revealed that only 20 per cent of secondary school age students in the province appeared in the secondary school certificate examinations. While 80% students either drop out during earlier years or never enrol.
The report reveals that female students outshine male students in a number of areas, including some aspects of academic performance, and overall rate of increase in participation.
The number of females appearing in SSC board examinations increased 193 per cent from year 2001 to year 2015, compared to 54 per cent increase in the number of males. This increase, according to the report, is correlated with an increase in number of high schools available during the period.
Every year, over 90 per cent of students, males and females combined, pass the board exams. More than half of these students score at the ‘C’ grade level or below.
Sami Khan, lead author of the report, said that these examination results are not just a reflection of the students’ academic performance but also of the system of education in the province.
“The Balochistan Board of Secondary and Intermediate Education deserves applause for taking the bold step of sharing the data and we hope that they shall analyse the results for effective policymaking,” he added.
According to the report, 71 per cent participants of the board exams come from government schools (managed by the education department), 26 per cent from private schools and 3 per cent from ‘Other Government’ schools, such as those managed by the armed forces or the Department of Labour.
Most of the students (62.5%) who score ‘A+’ or ‘A’ come from ‘Other Government-schools -- who constitute only 3 per cent of the total candidates. These schools are not only ahead in aggregate but also in subject scores. Their students perform far better in four subjects -- English, Math, Urdu and Computers.
Across government and private schools the differences appear to be marginal with private schools only slightly ahead in aggregate as well as subject scores.
The low scores of the government schools and private schools point toward generally poor quality of education.
“This is the first time in Pakistan when the Secondary School Certificate Exam results of 37,000 students have been analysed. Examination results can be used as a revealing data tool to determine the state of education,” said Irfan Ahmed Awan, Managing Director, Society for Community Strengthening and Promotion of Education, Balochistan and co-author of the report.
He said that Alif Ailaan has conducted the study in partnership with Society for Community Strengthening and Promotion of Education, Balochistan (SCSPEB), Balochistan Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BBISE) and the Secondary Education Department (SED) Government of Balochistan.
Representatives from the Punjab Examination Commission, Reform Support Unit Sindh, National Education Assessment System, PIFRA and ASER also shared details of their respective assessment systems.