Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Indore district’s 2026 MP Board of Secondary Education (MPBSE) results point to a widening gap between rising participation and declining academic performance across schools, suggesting uneven learning outcomes despite improved enrolment.
In Class 12, student participation increased significantly, with registrations rising nearly 8% from 33,548 in 2025 to 36,313 in 2026. The increase reflects stronger retention at the higher secondary level and broader access to formal schooling. However, this expansion has not translated into improved results. The overall pass percentage has fallen from 74.30% to 69.93%, while the number of failures increased from 8,495 to 10,876.
At the same time, performance is becoming more polarised. First-division results rose from 17,042 to 19,142, indicating that while a larger group of students is struggling, a segment continues to perform strongly.
The situation is more severe at the foundational level. In Class 10, the pass percentage dropped sharply from 77.83% to 67.56%, a decline of more than 10 percentage points. Girls’ performance fell from 81.87% to 73.54%, while boys declined more steeply from 73.85% to 61.89%, widening the gender gap to 11.65%.
Stream-wise Class 12 data further highlights structural imbalance. Agriculture showed a strong rise from 76.35% to 92.28%, while Fine Arts recorded a perfect 100% pass rate, up from 85.71% last year. However, mainstream academic streams declined. Science fell from 78.27% to 71.97%, Commerce from 78.38% to 69.11%, Humanities from 68.69% to 62.74%, and Home Science from 85.71% to 73.68%.
The decline in Science and Commerce is particularly significant as these streams account for a large share of students and are closely linked to competitive higher education pathways. Across both Class 10 and Class 12, girls continue to outperform boys, though both groups saw declines. In Class 12, girls’ pass percentage dropped from 78.16% to 73.69%, while boys fell from 70.80% to 66.22%.
