Overview

• The Ministry of Education asked Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Kerala, Manipur, Odisha, Telangana and West Bengal to shift to a unified board for secondary and higher secondary exams.
• Officials based the recommendation on a School Education Department analysis attributing 66 percent of Class 10 and Class 12 exam failures in 2024 to these seven states.
• A report flagged limited National Institute of Open Schooling outreach and noted that open school boards posted pass rates of just 54 percent in Class 10 and 57 percent in Class 12.
• Girls outperformed boys across most boards, with more than 28 lakh girls passing science subjects in 2024—a reversal of earlier trends.
• West Bengal’s education minister, Bratya Basu, said the state has received no formal communication and defended its boards’ pass rates of 86.56 percent in secondary and 90.79 percent in higher secondary exams.