Dakhil slump, humanities failure expose learning gaps

The Dakhil pass rate has fallen to 55.49% this year, the lowest level since 2003, while the humanities group recorded a pass rate of just 48.74%, exposing deepening learning gaps and raising fresh concerns about the quality of teaching.

The Dakhil result is particularly alarming against the strong performance recorded in the previous decade. The pass rate remained above 80% in most years between 2008 and 2016 and reached a 33-year high of 93.22% in 2021.

It subsequently fell to 82.22% in 2022, 74.70% in 2023 and 79.66% in 2024, before dropping sharply to 68.09% last year.

This year’s rate represents a 12.60 percentage-point fall in a single year.

A Daily Sun analysis of historical examination results shows that the 2026 Dakhil pass rate is lower than every year since 2003, when the rate was 41.87%. Other particularly low rates were recorded in 1998, at 46.88%, 2001 at 48% and 2002 at 52.46%.

The latest results also highlight serious disparities among institutions. A total of 226 madrasahs recorded a zero per cent pass rate, meaning none of their candidates passed the Dakhil examination. In all, 9,141 institutions participated in this year’s examination under the Bangladesh Madrasah Education Board.

The picture was similarly worrying in the humanities group across the SSC and  equivalent examinations. Its pass rate stood at 48.74%, meaning more than half of the candidates failed.

The poor results have prompted concerns about students’ learning, teacher shortages, irregular classes and weak performance in key subjects, particularly mathematics and English.

Daily Sun spoke to board officials, teachers and students from different madrasahs. They said this year’s examinations were conducted under tight surveillance, with CCTV cameras installed at examination centres and measures taken to prevent candidates from sitting examinations at their own institutions.

But stricter examination controls alone do not explain the poor performance, they said. A significant learning gap has developed over the years, particularly among students struggling with mathematics.

Only around 72% of students passed Civics, suggesting that the weaknesses were not confined to mathematics and English.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a candidate said the lack of teachers and irregular classes had affected students’ preparation.

“There were not enough teachers at our madrasah, and classes were not held regularly. These issues had an impact on our studies and examination results,” the candidate said.

The broader SSC results also exposed a particularly difficult situation for humanities students.

A teacher from Chattogram district said humanities students had traditionally struggled with mathematics and English, but their performance had deteriorated considerably this year.

“Humanities students have always been weak in mathematics and English. However, they performed much worse this year,” the teacher told Daily Sun.

The teacher said students needed to devote greater attention to their studies, but many were increasingly spending time on screens.

Syed Akhtaruzzaman, president of the Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee and chairman of the Dhaka Education Board, acknowledged the seriousness of the problem.

“The problem is more serious in the humanities group this time. We will look into why those who performed poorly are weak in English and mathematics. We will also discuss how to help humanities students move forward and take realistic decisions accordingly,” he told a press conference.

The humanities pass rate was considerably below that of the science group, which recorded an 80.64% pass rate. The business studies group recorded a 64.29% pass rate.

The Madrasah Education Board has said it will investigate the poor results and take action regarding institutions where no candidate passed.

Board Chairman Professor Khondaker Mohammad Sadequr Rahman described this year’s result as poor, while saying he expected performance to improve gradually.

“I would call it a poor result. This is the actual result, and the results will gradually improve. There had been complaints from the general public about the results of madrasahs,” he told Daily Sun.

He said he had been in office for only two months and that the examinations had been conducted transparently, with CCTV cameras installed at examination centres.

“Nevertheless, we will investigate the matter,” he said.

The chairman said he had already instructed officials to contact institutions where no student passed.

“I have already instructed the authorities to issue letters regarding the institutions where no student passed,” he said.

‘Proper teaching and learning do not take place’

Education experts said the results should be viewed as a reflection of the actual state of learning rather than simply as a failure in examination performance.

Dr S M Hafizur Rahman, professor at the Institute of Education and Research at the University of Dhaka, said a lack of interest among students and inadequate teaching were contributing to poor outcomes.

“Children are not interested in studying, and in many cases, proper teaching and learning do not take place,” he told Daily Sun.

He said the results needed to reflect students’ actual abilities and that the education system should move away from practices that artificially boosted examination performance.

“The results must reflect reality,” he said.

“A culture of artificially boosting results began during the previous government’s tenure. Now, we need to focus on education and ensure a genuine assessment of students’ merit.”

The sharp deterioration in Dakhil and humanities results therefore points to a wider challenge: improving the quality of classroom learning while ensuring that examination results accurately reflect what students have actually learned.