Whose failure?

Why almost half of the Grade 12 students failed is an ethical question the authorities must answer.

The Grade 12 National Education Board (NEB) results are out, and the pass percentage is nothing to celebrate. With just 51 percent of the students earning passing grades, almost half of those who appeared for the exams have been disqualified from upgrading to the university level. Of the 372,637 students who appeared for the final exams, 189,711 (around 51 percent) got a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 1.6 or above, while a whopping 182,926 have been non-graded and therefore disqualified for further education. A significant number of the non-graded students have the option of appearing for the re-examinations to be held on September 23 and 24, after which the overall pass percentage will rise. However, almost half the students could not pass their exams on their first attempt, pointing to a systemic failure in Nepal’s higher secondary education system.