Private schools in Bhutan are considered the resort of those who couldn’t pass the magical cut-off points to earn a government school seat.
But that notion has been toppled with this year’s Class XII results as Ugyen Academy in Punakha has position holders in Arts, Commerce and Science streams. The school also has a total pass percentage of 95.6%, the highest among all private schAools.
“This is the first time a private school has done well and has topped in all the three streams,” said the Bhutan Board of Examinations secretary, Dr Phub Rinchhen.
The results published yesterday show that the national pass percentage is a 0.82% higher than the 2008 pass percentage of 86.53%.
About 6,799 candidates registered for the Bhutan Higher Secondary Certificate (BHSEC) Examination from 26 government schools and nine private schools. Private schools saw 3,391 registering for the exams.
Of the 4,716 students who appeared from Ugyen Academy, 15 failed. Depen Chhetri stood third position with 87.7% in Science stream, Krishna Prashad Nepal stood second with 85.8% and Esther Karki stood third with 85.3% in Commerce and Tshencho Wangdi stood second with 78.3% in Arts.
Among the private schools, Richen Higher Secondary School in the capital scored a pass percentage of 88.9%. The other private schools’ scores are as follows: Kelki HSS (85.1), Reldri HSS(79.9), Nima HSS (79.2), Kuendrup HSS (76.5), Kuenga HSS (70.3), Prince Namgyel Wangchuck Academy HSS (67.2).
However, all the first position holders were from different government schools around the country: Yeshey Samdrup from Mothithang HSS(Science), Kelzang Wangmo (Commerce) from Gelephu HSS, and Langa Tenzin from Nangkhor HSS (Arts).
Sonam Kuenphen HSS, the only private school in Bumthang had been in the news in the previous years for not getting enough admissions and being a victim of the rule which says a private school can be built only seven kilometers away from the town. The school scored 78.2% results.
Dr. Phub Rinchhen said that the number of students appeared for the examinations affects the pass percentage of the school. “The passed percentage won’t be a good picture of the school performance as the number of students appeared for the examinations differs for every school. Some schools have lesser students while some have maximum students.”
Students have performed well in subjects like Geography, Dzongkha, English, Dzongkha Rigzhung, Physics, Chemistry and Computer Science with pass percentages above 90%. The worst performance was in Economics with only 64.77% of the students passing.
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