PORVORIM: The 2017 SSC exam pass percentage touched 91.57, the highest in six years. In the results declared on Thursday by Goa Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (GBSHSE), the pass percentage beat last year’s 90.93 just marginally.
The number of schools securing 100 percent pass percentage has increased to 94, which includes around 20 government schools, in comparison to last year’s 75 which included 58 aided and 17 government schools.
This year a total of 18,766 students appeared for the SSC examination out of which 17,193 passed. The pass percentage of girls – whose enrolment was higher than the boys – was recorded at 91.94 whereas 91.18 percent boys cleared the exams held from April 1-21, 2017 across 27 centres.
Addressing the media, GBSHSE Chairman J R Rebello said, “The pass percentage this year is the highest, that is 91.57 percent, as compared to the last six years. However, one interesting fact is that the gap between the girls and the boys passing is not that big.”
“This year 184 students with special needs appeared for the SSC examination out of which 161 passed with a pass percentage of 87.50 percent. Similarly the number of candidates availing sports marks were 8246 out of which 410 passed the exam with the help of these marks. However, it is interesting that if we have a look at the total number of students who answered, that is 18,766, almost half of them availed sports marks,” Rebello said.
Besides the hard work of the students, Rebello said that four other factors contributed to the pass percentage that is National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF), pre-vocational courses in certain schools, sports merit marks and children with special needs.
“NSQF, a feature introduced last year, has also contributed partly to the overall pass percentage. This year 202 students out of 1782 have passed who offered this additional seven skill-based subjects only in government schools who otherwise would have failed because when they offer the seventh subject the board has given them a concession wherein they have to pass any six subjects. If you browse through the reports you will find that a lot of government schools have scored 100 percent pass percentage,” he said
Meanwhile, the Board also said that the last day for revaluation of answer books is June 2 while for verification of marks in absentia the final day is June 27 and for photocopy of answer books the last day is June 9.
