Bikaner, March 25 -- This year's secondary school board examinations in Class 5 and Class 8 recorded an overall pass percentage exceeding 97%. According to education department data, over 2.6 million students appeared for the examinations across both classes this year. Among them, Class 5 recorded a higher pass percentage of 97.75%, surpassing Class 8, which stood at 97.01%. In absolute numbers, out of 13,68,947 students who appeared for the Class 5 examination, 13,33,936 successfully passed. Meanwhile, in Class 8, 12,45,735 students cleared the examination out of a total of 12,86,220 candidates. Girls outperformed boys in both classes. However, in Class 5, a majority of students were placed in the B grade category (61-80 marks), while 35.87% secured A grade, suggesting that although pass rates are high, a large proportion of students remain in the mid-performance bracket. Year-on-year comparisons show only marginal gains-an increase of 0.28% points in Class 5 and 0.35% points in Class 8-indicating stability rather than significant academic improvement. Speaking at the event, the education minister said the government will continue targeted interventions, including remedial classes, teacher training and continuous assessment, particularly for students in lower grade brackets....