DISPARITIES IN SCIENCE STREAM ACHIEVEMENT AT THE HIGHER SECONDARY LEVEL: EVIDENCE FROM COHSEM EXAMINATION RESULTS (2021–2025)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.56815/IRJAHS/2026.V(2026)I1.6-12

Abstract

This paper explores the achievement gap of community and gender in higher secondary science stream in Manipur based on secondary data of Council of Higher Secondary Education, Manipur (COHSEM) that was released in 2021-2025. The research follows a descriptive and analytical methodology whereby, pass percentages in four communities; General, Other Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes, and Scheduled Tribes are disaggregated by gender. The results show high overall pass percentages in general, but there are still very high levels of variances between communities and regions. These results showed a consistent high score in 2021, which is mostly linked to COVID-19-related internal assessment methods and the results showed a significant drop in 2022 due to the resumption of public examinations, revealing existing disparities, especially among Scheduled Tribe students who were highly concentrated in hill districts. Gender equity is evident since female students performed better than male students in communities. Still, the disadvantages of communities and regions are still restricting the distribution of equal results in science education. The research points out that the pass rates alone are not a guarantee of equity and there should be specific interventions by the regions in line with the equity goals of the National Education Policy 2020.