Page 65 - IJPS-11-2

International Journal of
Population Studies Spatial variation in examination performance

In terms of performance of the socially marginalized students varied from extremely low in Barpeta (14.4%)
students in the HSLC Examination, a very interesting to substantially high in Lakhimpur (60%). Similarly, a
picture emerged. The gender gap among them was found huge spatial variation was observed in the performance of
to be somewhat nominal (2.3% points) as compared to the Hindi-medium students, with Dhubri showing the poorest
overall gender gap (4.3% points) of the state. However, a (14.8%) performance and Dima Hasao the highest (100%).
substantial spatial disparity prevailed across the districts In the case of the socially marginalized students,
(Figure 3). A gender disparity in favor of males (ranging performance varied significantly across the media of
from 0.1 to 9.4 percentage points) was evident in 21 instruction in school. It should be noted that absenteeism
districts. The highest gender gap and disparity in favor for the HSLC Examination with Assamese, Bengali, Bodo,
of males were observed in the Darrang district, whereas and Hindi as the media of instruction was detected in
the lowest gap was seen in the Bongaigaon district. In 12 several districts. In contrast, students with English as
districts, the gender gap was in favor of female students the medium of instruction appeared for the examination
(ranging from 0.7 to 4.4% points). The Charaidao district in all the districts of Assam. English-medium students
showed the highest gender gap in favor of females, while outperformed their vernacular counterparts (Table 2).
the Baksa and Chirang districts presented a nominal gap. In terms of spatial variation, the highest pass percentage

3.3. Spatial disparity by religion among the English-medium students was observed in
Majuli district (99.4%), followed by Sivasagar (98.6%)
An attempt was made in this study to understand the district, whereas the lowest pass percentage was observed
spatial variation in performance in the HSLC Examination in West Karbi Anglong district (50.6%), followed by
by candidates’ religions. In the state as a whole, the the East Karbi Anglong district (56.9%). In the case of
performance of students belonging to the Hindu religion Assamese as the medium of instruction, the highest pass
(59.3%) was comparatively better than that of the Christian percentage was recorded in Dhemaji district (84.7%),
(57.3%) and Muslim (54.5%) students (data not shown). followed by Sivasagar district (81.9%), while the lowest
Among students from the Hindu religion, the performance pass percentage was recorded in Chirang district (23.0%)
varied from 35.6%. and West Karbi Anglong district (26.5%). In the case of
Among the socially marginalized students, Christian Bodo-medium students, a 100% pass rate was recorded
students (64.1%) considerably outperformed the Hindu in West Karbi Anglong and Kamrup Metro districts, but a
students (55.9%) and those under the “Others” category significantly low pass rate was documented in Bongaigaon
(62.4%). Hindu students who had the poorest performance district (17.9%).
in the examination were concentrated in Hojai (30.2%),
whereas those with the best performance originated in 4. Discussion
Dhemaji (86.5%). Chirang district recorded the lowest pass In India, poor academic performance is an important
percentage for the socially marginalized Christian students concern that is often raised in the context of school
(37.9%), whereas the highest percentage was noted in education. Despite high enrollment and attendance rates,
South Salmara, Morigaon, and Majuli districts (100%). relevant learning outcomes at all levels differ across the
These results indicate that there was a significant spatial society. The performance of students who are socially
variation in the HSLC Examination 2022 performance excluded is much worse than that of their peers. The root
across all the religious groups in Assam. causes of the poor academic performance of the socially
marginalized students have been studied in many parts
3.4. Spatial variation by medium of instruction in of India (Sethi et al., 2013; Arumugam & Bhat, 2020).
the school Studies (Maji & Sarkar, 2018; Chaliha & Bhuyan, 2016;
In Assam, English-medium students performed much John et al., 2020; Das, 2021) have consistently shown that
better than students from other media of instruction socioeconomic status (Masud et al., 2019; Sirin, 2005),
(Table 2). However, there exists a spatial variation across educational attainment of parents (Cooperman et al., 2016),
the districts. Majuli (99.4%) and Sivasagar (98.1%) and family distress significantly influence students’ overall
recorded the highest pass percentage, while West Karbi academic performance. One study (John et al., 2020) argues
Anglong recorded the lowest pass percentage (53.8%). For that students from socially marginalized backgrounds are
Assamese-medium students, the highest performance was likely to have poor educational performances because
recorded in Sivasagar (85.8%) and the lowest in Hailakandi of unfavorable home environments. According to other
(22.2%). For Bodo-medium students, a 100% pass rate researchers, poor educational performance is caused
was recorded in Cachar, Hojai, Kamrup Metro, and West by factors such as low expectations, poor aspirations,
Karbi Anglong. The performance of Bengali-medium a lack of delayed gratification, and economic problems

Volume 11 Issue 2 (2025) 59 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.0886