Over a half of the students who took the grade 12 examinations have passed the tests held in May.

As many as 189,711 students have secured the Grade Point Average (GPA) of 1.6 and above, qualifying for university education. Among 372,637 examinees, 182,926 have been listed as non-graded and are disqualified for higher studies. The students failing to secure a minimum of 1.6 GPA are categorised as non-graded.

“There has been a slight improvement in the results compared to last year,” said Mahashram Sharma, chairperson of the National Examination Board. “While 48 percent of students had graduated last year, some 51 percent got through the test this year.” The examinees must get 35 percent marks in all the subjects to qualify for higher study.

Among the 363,oo8 examinees (close to 52 percent) who appeared in the grade 12 examinations last year, 188,410 fell in the non-graded category. The board had conducted the final examinations of the school education from May 9 to 19 this year, setting up 1,457 exam centres including one in Japan. Twelve students took the test from Japan.

NEB officials say not just has the share of graduates increased this year but there have been improvements in their performance. As per the results, 4,171 students (1.15 percent) had secured a GPA between 3.61 and 4 last year. This has increased to 6,975 (1.87 percent) this year. Against 30,107 (8.3 percent) who got a GPA between 3.21 and 3.60 last year, 38,999 (10.47) students have secured the same range of GPA this year.

Like the previous year, students who have been placed in non-graded category in a maximum of two subjects can reappear in the grade-improvement examinations. “As many as 123,396 students can appear for the re-examinations to be held on September 23 and 24,” said Durga Prasad Aryal, member secretary at the board. “The number of graduates will increase once the result of the grade-improvement tests is published.”

As per the results, 109,527 students failed to secure the pass grades in English, the highest among all subjects.

Though the officials at the board welcomed the results saying there have been improvements compared to the previous year, experts are concerned at the high share of non-graded students.

Binaya Kushiyait, a professor at Tribhuvan University, said there is no reason to be happy about the results. “Close to half the examinees have failed to cross even the pass mark. We need to ponder on why the success rate is still so low,” he told the Post.

He said there have only been talks about improving the quality of education without making any serious efforts. Kushiyait pointed out the lack of subject teachers, little investment from the state and low quality of teachers for the unsatisfactory outcome.

As the number of students opting for higher study abroad has been increasing over the years, college operators in Nepal are worried about the success rate. As many as 110,000 students acquired No Objection Certificates last fiscal year to study in 72 countries. The ever-increasing number of out-bound students, coupled with lower graduation rate, is a real problem, they say. Kishor Gautam, principal at the Himalayan Engineering College, says when there is low pass rate, the pool of students for them is small.

“Over 100,000 students leave the country every year to study abroad,” Gautam, who is also a central committee member of the Association of Engineering Colleges, told the Post. “If low numbers of students graduate, there are inadequate numbers left for us.”