Maharashtra board’s best Class 10 pass percentage since 2004

The return of oral exams and the state board’s decision to grant average marks for geography paper led to the massive jump in the overall pass percentage (93.31%)

The return of oral exams and the state board’s decision to grant average marks for geography paper led to the massive jump in the overall pass percentage (93.31%) in the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) exams, highest since 2004, according to experts. The results were declared on Wednesday.

HT Image

In 2019, the state education department had scrapped oral exams and internal assessments for languages and social sciences, a move that had led to a massive dip in the pass percentage (75.53%) and the number of top scorers that year. After facing flak, the department reintroduced the 20-mark internal assessments this year.

The number of students scoring 90% and above in the state saw a jump of 191% compared to 2019 – from 28,516 in 2019 to 83,262 this year. In Mumbai division, the number went up by 174% from 5,399 in 2019 to 14,756 this year.

At Dadar’s Balmohan Vidyamandir, more than 70% of the class scored 90% and above. “There isn’t one particular subject where students have not done well and that has been the main reason for everyone scoring so well. Students were very anxious for the past few weeks, especially after ICSE results were announced. The state board managed to elevate the mood of our students as well,” said Rupa Roy, principal.

This year, students were given average scores for geography exam which could not be conducted due to the Covid-19 outbreak. Of the total 600 marks, 480 marks are for written exams and 120 for internal assessments. With the cancellation of the 40 marks written paper of Geography, the written total was 440 this year. “This led to a higher success rate in social sciences, as students who managed to pass in history also cleared the geography paper,” said Jagdish Indalkar, principal, KVK school Ghatkopar.

Rajesh Pandya, teacher at Fatimadevi English School in Malad, which recorded 100% result, said, “It is a good thing that the internal assessments were reintroduced. It helped students to score better and get marks on a par with the other boards,” he added.

BMC schools score 93.25%

Schools under the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) recorded a success rate of 93.25% in SSC results this year. Over 13,000 students had appeared for the SSC exams from 218 schools under BMC this year. Of these, 76 schools recorded a 100% result.