Mumbai division: Number of students scoring 90% and above has dipped

Mumbai: The announcement of Secondary School Certificate (SSC-Class 10) results on Friday marked celebrations for schools across the state, especially in the Mumbai division, which has recorded a success rate of 96

Mumbai: The announcement of Secondary School Certificate (SSC-Class 10) results on Friday marked celebrations for schools across the state, especially in the Mumbai division, which has recorded a success rate of 96.12% (fresh and repeat candidates), making it the second-best success rate recorded by the division.

Thane, India - June 17, 2022: Students check their results on the laptop and celebrate after their SSC Exam results were declared at their tuition class, in Thane, Mumbai, on Friday, June 17, 2022. (Photo by Praful Gangurde/HT PHOTO) (HT PHOTO)

Despite high pass percentage in the Mumbai division, the overall number of students scoring 90% and above has dipped this year with 10,764 students achieving this feat, compared to 14,756 students who managed the same score in 2020. Principals feel some students struggled with scoring high marks in languages this year, which could have affected individual scores of students.

A vice-principal of a south Mumbai school, whose school scored 100% results, said, “We were worried about our current batch’s performance in the exams, as in the last two years due to online lectures, students couldn’t hone their writing skills, which is essential in the board exams. However, what made them calmly and confidently write their papers was the fact that they were in the familiar surroundings of their schools while appearing for boards. It also seems like the assessment this year was lenient, considering students were appearing for a physical exam after a break of nearly two years.”

In 2021, class 10 board exams across several school education boards had to be scrapped due to rising Covid-19 cases. Results for the class 10 batch was instead based on students’ performance in classes 9 and 10 combined, where class 10 performance was focussed on internal marks. This decision helped boost the marks of students across boards. While the overall success rate of SSC students was 99.5% last year, ICSE students in Maharashtra and CBSE students from the Pune region (which includes Mumbai) boasted of a 100% success rate.

A large number of schools have recorded 100 percent results in the Mumbai division this year and many have witnessed an increase in the number of students scoring distinction this year. “Almost 80% of our students have scored 75% and above in both the English and Marathi medium batches. We are once again proud of 100 percent results and we attribute it to a team effort of the entire staff and the students as it was a very challenging year for them with online education but offline examinations,” said Snigdha Roy, Principal, Father Agnel Multipurpose School, Vashi. The highest scorer from the school is 16-year-old Radha Rasam, who scored 99.6% on her boards.

16-year-old Rishil Parmar had only one goal for the past year -- to prepare for exams assuming there will be an offline test in 2022. “By preparing for the offline exam, I ensured my writing practice was continuous and I always told myself that even if the exam is held online, I’ll be prepared for it,” said Parmar, a student of St Xavier’s School in Virar. He scored 96% in his board exams and while his classes were held online, Parmar added that his school ensured physical classes were held in smaller batches for students who required help.

Education institutes that completely shut down in March 2020 following the nationwide lockdown managed to reopen starting October 2021 after the state government called for a phased reopening of physical classes. However, rising cases of Covid and Omicron in the city and state forced the state minister for higher and technical education Uday Samant to call for another shutdown in the first week of January. While schools reopened for physical classes last week of January, regular lectures started in February and by March, students were already preparing for their board exams.

Edward Mascarenhas, vice-principal of St John the Baptist School, Thane, said, “We have noticed that students who faced health or financial hardship during the pandemic are the ones who have not managed to clear the exam this year. We are happy to see how students beat all odds and have managed to score well in the board exam this year. Most of our students have scored either distinction or first class as we ensured to maintain the quality of education despite online education for two years.”

Meanwhile, civic schools too, had reason to cheer with a success rate of 96.74%, with 107 schools boasting of cent percent results. “It brings me great pride to know of the 96.74% SSC result in our BMC schools. This truly highlights the fruits of our efforts towards ensuring quality in education and providing our students with a platform to achieve their academic aspirations,” tweeted Aditya Thackeray. The highest scorer in BMC schools is Simran Lodhi from a BMC school in Bandra with 95%.