Class 10 exam pass percentage down, absentee rate goes up

CHENNAI: The pass percentage and overall performance of Class 10 students fell by a considerable margin when compared to the past four years. Pass percentage was the highest in 2019 (95.2%) but fell to 90.7% this year. The absentee rate too increased from 2.09% in 2019 to 4.45% in 2022. The fall has been attributed to the pandemic. 

“Firstly, schools started functioning only in November, while usually they start in June. Every year, the syllabus gets completed by December and three revision tests are conducted before the Board exam. Separate material is generally provided by the government for slow learners. But students only wrote two exams this year,” said P Patrick Raymond, general secretary, Tamil Nadu Graduate Teachers Federation.

Also, special material was not provided for slow learners and there were no model papers for the reduced syllabus either. Since attendance was not compulsory, many students did not turn up to study, say teachers.
However, students said neither the question papers nor the evaluation was liberal. “Generally, if the question paper is tough, evaluation is a bit liberal. This year, both were tough,” said T Yamini, a Class 10 student. Notably, the pass percentage for maths was only 90.89%.

Only one student scored a centum in Tamil and 45 scored 100% in English. Overall, only 65 students scored above 495, and 32,581 students between 451 and 495. More than 52,000 students scored below 300 marks.