Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The number of students taking the High School and the Higher Secondary examinations conducted by Madhya Pradesh Board of Secondary Education (MPBSE) is consistently falling.
The number of the Class 10 (High School) examinees dropped by 1.13 lakh and of the Class 12 (Higher Secondary) by 5,000 between 2022 and 2025. And it applies to both regular and private students including girls and boys.
According to the MPBSE data, in the year 2022, a total of 10.66 lakh students had registered for the Class 10 (High School) examination of the board. Their number fell to 9.53 lakh this year - a drop of 10.6%. The number of both regular and private students dropped in this period.
In 2022, 9.51 lakh regular students had taken the exam. In 2025, their number fell to 8.10 lakh - an almost 15% drop. In 2024, 9.91 lakh students had registered for the exam of which 8.27 lakh were regular and 1.63 lakh were private.
The number of both boys and girls registering for the Class 10 exam as regular candidates has been falling. In 2022, 4.98 lakh boys had applied for the exam. Their number fell to 4.08 lakh in 2025. The number of boys taking the exam this year was almost 90,000 less than in 2022. The same is the case with the girls. In 2022, 4.53 lakh girls registered for Class 10 exam. Their number fell by 52,000 to 4.01 lakh in 2025.
The same trend is visible with regard to Higher Secondary (Class 12) examination. In 2022, 7.12 lakh students had registered for the exam while in 2025, their number fell to 7.06 lakh. The number of both boys and girls fell. In 2022, 3.25 lakh boys and 3.09 lakh girls had registered for the exam as regular candidates. Their numbers were 3 lakh and 3.04 lakh respectively in 2025.
Last year (2024), 6.27 lakh students including 3.14 lakh boys and 3.12 lakh girls had applied for the exam. The only exception was the year 2023, in which the number of students taking the exam went up to 8.56 lakh from 7.12 lakh in the previous year.
