YANGON, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar has achieved a pass rate of 32.82 percent of matriculation examination held nationwide for the 2017-2018 academic year, declining from 2016-2017 academic year when it was registered at 33.89 percent, Myanmar News Agency reported Sunday.

A total of 789,845 students sat for the matriculation exam across the country in the 2017-2018 academic year, of whom 259,191 students passed, according to the exam result released by the Ministry of Education.

In the previous academic year 2016-2017, a total of 716,188 students appeared for the examination, of whom 242,736 passed.

The 2017-2018 academic year's matriculation exam result was signified by the fact that pass rate in conflicted Maungtaw, Rakhine state doubled as compared with the previous year, increasing from 9 percent to 18.12 percent.

A total of 690 students sat for the exam in Maungtaw where there are 110 basic education schools, of whom 125 passed.

Students in Myanmar are set to sit for the matriculation exams before joining universities.