MANDI: An error on the part of the Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education (HPBOSE) cost a Class 12 student dear as the girl allegedly attempted suicide after being wrongly declared fail and then pass in the revised result.
The incident occurred in the Palampur subdivision of Kangra district in Himachal Pradesh and the girl is now battling for her life at Tanda Medical College.
The student, whose father had passed away years ago, lives with her widowed mother and two sisters who are the sole breadwinners of the family.
On May 17, HPBOSE released the Class 12 board examination results in which the girl was shown as having failed in two subjects — English (22 marks) and Political Science (24 marks).
Wrongly failed in two subjects, then declared pass in both
Distraught over the outcome, the student allegedly consumed pesticide and was rushed to Tanda Medical College where she remains in critical condition. Her kidneys have reportedly stopped functioning.
In a cruel twist of fate, on May 21, just four days after the initial result, the Board issued a revised marksheet, awarding her 44 marks each in English and Political Science, effectively marking her as passed.
A formal complaint has been lodged at Panchrukhi police station and a case is under investigation. The family and locals are demanding strict accountability from the HPBOSE whose error has caused irreversible trauma.
Thousands affected as HPBOSE revises overall results
The girl is not the only one impacted. Following the error, HPBOSE re-evaluated and revised the Class 12 results. The updated data reveals a significant change in the overall performance figures:
• Total students appeared: 86,373
• Initial pass count: 71,591
• Revised pass count: 76,315
• Additional students passed: 4,724
The pass percentage has now increased from 83.16% to 88.64%. The failure count has dropped from 8,581 to 5,868, indicating that 2,713 students were either promoted to passing status or moved to the “compartment” category.
Similarly, the number of students placed in the compartment category was reduced from 5,847 to 3,838, with 2,009 students completely cleared from that category.
Questions raised on HPBOSE’s accountability
The incident has sparked widespread outrage among students, parents and others across the state. Many are demanding a formal inquiry into how such a critical error occurred in the evaluation and result publishing process.
Education activists argue that mental health and academic pressure already weigh heavily on students and such lapses can have fatal consequences.
Munish Sood
