Page 61 - IJPS-11-2

International Journal of
Population Studies Spatial variation in examination performance

the marginalized students, the results were separately to the relatively small number of candidates from the
presented for the socially marginalized students and “Buddhism,” “Jainism,” and “Sikhism” religions, the
compared with the results of all the students in general students belonging to these religions were grouped under
(that is, students from all the categories). the “Others” category. Given its strong indicative power of
the sociocultural background, religion was incorporated
2.1. Description of variables into the present analysis.
2.1.1. Performance in the HSLC examination
2.1.6. Medium of instruction
Performance in the HSLC Examination was the main
variable of interest in the present study. Information was Assamese, Bengali, Boro, English, Hindi, and Manipuri
languages are the media of instruction reported in
available on whether a candidate had secured the “first,” the dataset. Data were tabulated for each medium of
“second,” or “third” division, had “failed,” had been instruction except Manipuri.
“expelled,” had his/her result “withheld,” or had been “fully
absent.” In this study, students who had secured the “first”, 2.2. Analytical approach
“second” or “third” division were grouped as “passed.”
While calculating the pass percentage, the number of Data were cross-tabulated and percentages were calculated
students who were in the “passed” category was used as the at the district level. Differentials across space and some of
the other parameters were assessed by simple subtraction.
numerator, whereas the total number of students included Spatial variations in the HSLC Examination performance
in this study served as the denominator because the focus were classified into five categories based on the pass
of this study was to find whether a candidate had sat percentage of a district. These categories were 34.30 – 44.88
through all the tests under the HSLC Examination.
(very low), 44.88 – 55.46 (low), 55.46 – 66.04 (medium),
2.1.2. Caste 66.04 – 76.62 (high), and 76.62 – 87.20 (very high). For
presenting this classification on a choropleth map, the
Information was available on the following seven latest shapefile of the map of India with administrative
categories of caste, namely (i) “General,” (ii) “Other boundary up to the district level with the product code
Backward Class,” (iii) “More Other Backward Class,” (iv) OVSF/1M/9 was obtained from the official website of the
“SC,” (v) “ST (Plains),” (vi) “ST (Hills),” and (vii) “Tea Survey of India, Department of Science and Technology.
Garden Category” (although it is not a recognized caste). The map showcasing all districts in Assam, indicated
The “SCs,” the “STs (Plains),” and the “STs (Hills)” were clearly with levels of HSLC Examination performance,
merged to form the socially marginalized group in the was then created using the Quantum-GIS software. The
present study. This variable was used as the proxy indicator converted map was generalized into spatial segments as
of the socioeconomic standing of a student. per the data. Since the map was prepared as a Lambert

2.1.3. District Conformal Conic Projection, there was a slight distortion
and exaggeration of shape. To find if there was a clustering
There were a total of 33 districts in Assam at the time of the of performance of the students in the HSLC Examination,
declaration of the HSLC Examination 2022 results. In the Local Indicators of Spatial Association (LISA) cluster maps
present analysis, district was utilized as a variable to offer a and significance maps were prepared on GeoDA, and
spatial context in understanding the spatial variation of the Moran’s I value was determined. The gender gap in the pass
HSLC Examination performance. percentage of the students, in general, and of the socially
marginalized students, in particular, in Assam’s HSLC
2.1.4. Gender
Examination 2022 was presented graphically. The gender
Data on two categories of gender, namely “Male” and disparity in pass percentage was assessed by applying
“Female,” were available in the dataset. This parameter was Sopher’s Disparity Index considering higher value as X2
used to understand if there was a gender disparity across irrespective of gender.
different socioeconomic strata in terms of performance in
the HSLC Examination. 2.3. Exclusion criteria
Data of students with the following characteristics were
2.1.5. Religion excluded from the analysis:
Information on the religion of the candidates was also (i) Having attended the Assam High Madrassa School
available from SEBA. In 2022, the candidates were from Examination. As the present study was devoted
“Hindu,” “Islam,” “Christianity,” “Buddhism,” “Jainism,” exclusively to exploring students’ performance in
“Sikhism,” and “Others” religious backgrounds. Due the HSLC Examination, a total of 11245 students

Volume 11 Issue 2 (2025) 55 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.0886