The School Leaving Certificate popularly abbreviated as SLC,^[1] is the final examination of Class 11 and Class 12 which is also known as +2 course in Nepal.^[2] A +2 course is generally pursued after completing Secondary Education Examination (SEE) (Class 10 Final Exam).

The SLC examinations are the most important examination in the educational system of Nepal for building an academic career. The government expects that the SEE examination will help the country to increase its literacy rate.

The SLC (Class 11 and 12) and SEE (Class 10) examination is normally scheduled in April to June of every year. The examinations are held by National Examination Board (NEB) located in Sanothimi, Bhaktapur, Nepal.

Until 2016, SLC was the Grade 10 final examination, known as the "iron gate". However, after 2016 the Grade 10 examination was replaced with the Secondary Education Examination (SEE). Every student must take the SEE examination before they join higher secondary or intermediate level education (Class 11th and 12th grade, also known as +2 Course). This +2 Course is equivalent to GCE and SEE is equal to GCSE, the academic qualifications in England.

Examination centres

Nepal used to be divided into five development regions and seventy-five districts, and each region had many examination centers. The examination questions used to differ from region to region but were the same within one single region, so if the exam were to be canceled, only one region would be affected, and only the questions of that region would have to be prepared. Every examination takes place at the same time throughout the whole country. There are different centers for students belonging to different schools.

Results

The results are published by the Examination Control Board about two and a half to three months after the examinations. Students are categorized into five divisions according to their score.

Despite such a low percentage required to pass the examination, many students (more than 50%), mostly students of government schools in rural areas of Nepal, still fail the exam every year due to its level of difficulty. Since government schools are known for being less rigorous to students compared to private schools, government school students are reportedly less likely to pass the exam. Even if one fails to get above 40 marks in each subject, they are declared failed. The result of the SLC is significant to an individual student since students with a high percentage can obtain various scholarships for their higher secondary level education.

The Government of Nepal has formulated and implemented a new system for SLC. The Government has changed the system, which has proven advantageous and disadvantageous in its implementing year. The students do not fail in the exam according to the new system, but those having low GPI don't get admission for higher-level studies. That's why the education system has been getting a lot of criticism.

Criticism

Some educationalists in Nepal criticize the SLC exam by citing it as not being important so SEE has replaced it in the present context. They say that the tests are neither standardized nor can it assess the capacity of Nepalese children. The education experts have been asking the government to review and revise the SLC examinations for the past three decades. However, the government, they say, is running the same old mechanism that will still be running in the same way for several decades more. Also, there is no trend of SLC examination results in a continuum, rather it is so haphazard that the School Leaving Certificate results can not be trusted, they say.^[3]

In 2010, mathematics question paper was leaked in Bajang, Kailali, Sunsari, Bara and Banke districts as well.^[4] A huge criticism arises on the SEE Administrators after the question of SEE 2019 of Province No. 2 get leaked before the exam day. The government postponed and even retook the previous day exam.^[5] They believed that it gets spammed and went viral through different social sites and free video calling application like IMO. The SEE Security Committee chaired by Education Minister Giriraj Mani Pokharel took a decision and handed the case to CIB.^[5]

References