By Vishu Adhana
New Delhi (India), June 18 : India has seen an 85.8 per cent increase in the number of students scoring above 60 per cent in Class 12 board exams over the past 11 years, with girls significantly outperforming boys across all social categories, according to data released by the Ministry of Education.
From 43.1 lakh students scoring above 60 per cent in class XII in 2013, the number jumped to 80 lakh in 2024.
Among them, the number of girls nearly doubled--from 21.9 lakh to 42.8 lakh, a rise of 95.7 per cent.
Girls belonging to the scheduled caste saw a massive 157.8 per cent rise (from 2.4 lakh to 6.2 lakh), while ST girls registered the most dramatic improvement, with a 251.6 per cent surge--from just 0.6 lakh in 2013 to 2.3 lakh in 2024.
The data also shows a substantial increase in the overall number of students appearing in Class 12 board exams--from 135.1 lakh in 2013 to 149.5 lakh in 2024, an increase of 10.6 per cent.
Participation among SC students rose 16.1 per cent during the same period (from 21.2 lakh to 24.7 lakh), while ST participation rose 24.4 per cent (from 8.4 lakh to 10.5 lakh).
For girls overall, participation rose by nearly 20 percent, from 59.8 lakh to 71.7 lakh. The rise was sharper among SC and ST girls--27.8 percent and 45 percent, respectively.
The data highlights a significant increase in students opting for and passing with science as their stream, especially among girls and students from disadvantaged groups.
In 2013, 36.3 lakh students passed with science; in 2024, the number had risen to 61 lakh, a 68.2 per cent increase.
The rise in the number of girls passing with science was even sharper--110 per cent, from 13.4 lakh in 2013 to 28.1 lakh this year. Among SC students, the increase was 84.7 per cent, while among ST students it was 92.8 per cent.
ST girls, in particular, showed a 146.6 per cent rise in science stream pass-outs--from 0.6 lakh in 2013 to 1.4 lakh in 2024.
Despite higher participation and performance, dropout rates between Classes 10 and 12 continue to pose challenges. In Class 10, about 26.6 lakh students either failed (22.17 lakh) or did not appear (4.43 lakh) for exams.
This is, however, a marked improvement from 2013, when the number stood at 41.5 lakh--a reduction of 47 per cent over a decade.
In Class 12, 24.76 lakh students (20.16 lakh failed and 4.6 lakh did not appear) failed to complete their school education.
The Education Ministry has stressed that improving retention beyond Class 10 is essential to boosting the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher secondary and eventually in higher education.
Open schooling, seen as an alternative to mainstream education, continues to have limited reach and low success rates. Only 6.98 lakh students enrolled in open schools for Class 10, of whom just 3.4 lakh passed.
In Class 12, the situation is similar--only 7.9 lakh students appeared, with National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) accounting for just 36 per cent (2.84 lakh). The pass percentage on open boards remains low.
India currently has 66 school examination boards--3 national-level and 63 state-level boards (54 regular and 12 open boards). Of these, the top 33 boards account for 97 per cent of students, while the remaining 33 boards cater to just 3 per cent.
There are 48 boards that conduct both secondary and higher secondary exams.