New Delhi: In a first, the percentage of girls in India graduating from Class 12 with the science stream has surpassed those passing with the arts stream, the Union Education Ministry’s analysis of last year’s results of 66 education boards across India has found.
The analysis report, released Wednesday, shows that 28.1 lakh girls passed Class 12 with the science stream in 2024, compared to 27.2 lakh having the arts stream.
In 2022, 28.2 lakh girls had passed with the arts stream, compared to 23.3 lakh with the science stream, while in 2023, 29.6 lakh girls passed Class 12 with the arts stream and 25.6 lakh with the science stream.
The ministry’s analysis highlights a consistent rise in the number of students graduating from Class 12 with the science stream over the last 11 years, from 2013 to 2024. In 2013, 36.3 lakh students had passed with the science stream, and this surged to 61 lakh in 2024.
In the case of girls, the number passing with the science stream also increased exponentially during these years, from 13.4 lakh in 2013 to 28.1 lakh in 2014.
The ministry attributes the rise to improved availability of facilities such as subject-specific laboratories, qualified teachers, Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs) and smart classrooms in schools. It also underlines the success of the government’s Samagra Shiksha initiative and emphasises the need to increase higher education seats in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields to meet growing demand.
The ministry further attributes the analysis numbers to an increasing number of girls from marginalised sections opting for the science stream.
In 2013, 1.7 lakh girls from such backgrounds passed Class 12 with science, which increased to 4.1 lakh in 2024. Similarly, the number of Scheduled Tribe (ST) girls passing with the science stream rose from 60,000 in 2013 to 1.4 lakh in 2024, the data shows.
Speaking to the media Wednesday, Sanjay Kumar, Secretary, Department of School Education & Literacy, said that a surging interest for the science stream had been observed among students.
“There is a clear preference for science across the country among both boys and girls, with a significantly higher growth rate among girls. We are urging the higher education department to coordinate with states to ensure a smooth transition for students into higher education in their chosen streams and to make adequate seats available,” he added.
At the same time, however, the data shows a decline in the number of students passing Class 12 with the commerce stream. In 2022, 18 lakh students had passed with commerce, which dropped to 16.8 lakh in 2024.
The analysis by the ministry further reveals significant deviation in pass percentage in states where students face a change in the state education board between Classes 10 and 12. The ministry has requested all states to ensure one education board for all classes.
According to the ministry’s analysis, the pass percentage at the Class 10 board level has also improved across all states over the past decade, except in Karnataka and Jammu & Kashmir.
In Madhya Pradesh and Meghalaya, the pass percentage has remained largely unchanged in this period.
At the Class 12 level, the pass percentage showed improvement in 2024 compared to 2013 in all states, except for Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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