CBSE Class 12 results: 99.35% students pass

A total of 1.304 million students were set to appear for the Class 12 board exam this year across 16 regions in the country and 99.37% of them have passed.

Almost all Central Board of Secondary Exam (CBSE) Class 12 students have passed this year, showed the board results published on Friday. A total of 1.304 million students were set to appear for the Class 12 board exam this year across 16 regions in the country and 99.37% of them have passed.

Students celebrate after checking their CBSE Class 12 results at Apeejay School in Nerul, Navi Mumbai on Friday. (Bachchan Kumar/ HT PHOTO)

Pune region, which includes Maharashtra, recorded a pass percentage of 99.35%, up by 9.11 percentage points from last year’s 90.24%. Experts said this jump could be a result of the alternative assessment policy adopted by CBSE in the view of the pandemic.

As the Covid-19 pandemic continued to rage in many parts of the country, the board exam was cancelled and students were assessed based on a new formula designed by CBSE.

This year, the board evaluated students by compiling their marks in Class 10, 11 and 12. Of the total score, 30% weightage was assigned to the average of the three best performing subjects out of the five main ones in Class 10. Another 30% was assigned to theory marks obtained in Class 10 and the remaining 40% was given to scores in midterm/unit tests or pre-board exams that took place during Class 12.

“The alternative assessment policy could be one of the reasons why the numbers are better this year. To moderate the marks, we are considering only the best and the highest marks scored by the student in the last three years. Another reason could be that the board has been liberal in its assessment this year given that the pandemic has been difficult for students as well,” said Avnita Bir, director-principal of RN Podar School, Santacruz.

At the Delhi Public School in Nerul, Navi Mumbai, of the 316 students 83.2% got above 90% marks, said principal J Mohanty. All students passed with first division, he added.

Across the country, the number of students securing more than 95% marks has almost doubled compared to last year with an 80% increase as compared to last year.

Incidentally, flagged by a drastic surge in the number of top-scorers, CBSE had asked schools across the country to rework the marks earlier this month. Earlier schools were allowed to submit their moderated marks by June 30, but many were asked to redo the moderation and submit the marks by July 25, which led to a considerable delay in the much-awaited results.

Principals said circumstances were different for students appearing for the board exam this year as compared with previous years.

Kavita Sahay Kerawalla, vice-chairperson, VIBGYOR Group of Schools, said, “This year prompted the cancellation of board examinations but opened up promising prospects for novel ways of student assessment in the future. I congratulate our students for emerging victorious and surpassing all the challenges that the pandemic has presented.”

For instance, at Bal Bharati Public School in Navi Mumbai, Parvati Paniker lost her mother to Covid-19 and her father was admitted to the hospital during her pre-board exams. She has managed to score 365 out of 500, securing 71% in aggregate.

Students said their scores exceeded their expectations. “I was pleasantly surprised to find out I had secured 97.6%. I have done well in the past three years, but I wasn’t expecting to score this well. I’d like to credit my parents and teachers for this,” said Chinmaya DR, who topped in the science stream at Bal Bharti Public School, Navi Mumbai, and is preparing for engineering entrance exams.

Ashwin Goyal, who secured 99.2% in the science stream, said amid uncertainties over the final exam, he would sometimes feel disheartened. “Of course, it was a difficult time and there was no certainty about how I would achieve my goals. I concentrated on my studies and that helped me tide through,” said Goyal, a student of DPS Nerul, who is weighing his options between a career in engineering and pure sciences.