Ranchi: Hundreds of Class 12 students here on Wednesday demanded re-evaluation of the answer sheets they wrote for their annual examinations in which just 42.3 percent students secured passing marks.

The angry students also locked the main gate of the Jharkhand Academic Council (JAC) office here.

Five Class 12 students have committed suicide in the state since the results were announced on June 10.

In the science stream, just 28 percent students cleared the exam. Surprisingly, many of these students have cleared entrance tests for prestigious medical and engineering institutions, including the Indian Institutes of Technology Joint Entrance Examination (IIT-JEE).

"Despite the fact that I appeared in the practical examination, I have been shown absent and failed," said Reema Kumari, who has cleared a medical entrance examination.

In commerce and arts streams, only 42.44 and 52.66 percent, respectively, of students have passed the examination.

Interestingly, the state's Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Baidnath Ram's son and daughter too have failed in the exams.

Jharkhand students' performance has been poor in the last couple of years. Last year, the pass percentage was 50.36.

However, this year's results have put the state government in a spot.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda has sought a detailed report from the chief secretary and HRD secretary.

The JAC is mulling a change in the examination pattern. JAC officials blame the subjective questions for the poor results.

"We are reviewing the poor results," JAC chairman Laxmi Singh said. He is, however, against re-evaluation of the answer sheets. IANS