Ghaziabad, Muzaffarnagar girls top CBSE’s Class 12 exam

In the national capital, students from Delhi government schools did particularly well, with a record 94.24% clearing the exams even as 17,000 more appeared for it this year.

Two girls from Uttar Pradesh — Hansika Shukla of Ghaziabad and Karishma Arora of Muzaffarnagar — topped the Class 12 school-leaving exams, scoring 499 out of a possible 500 marks, according to results declared on Thursday by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), which said there was a slight improvement in the overall pass percentage compared to last year.

Ghaziabad: Hansika Shukla, CBSE class 12th topper, poses for a photograph with her mother after the results were declared, in Ghaziabad, Thursday, May 02, 2019. Shukla scored 499 out of 500 marks. (PTI Photo)(PTI5_2_2019_000037B)(PTI)

In the national capital, students from Delhi government schools did particularly well, with a record 94.24% clearing the exams even as 17,000 more appeared for it this year. Private schools in the national capital recorded a success rate of 90.68%.

In all, 1,205,484 students from 12,441 schools across the country appeared for the Class 12 examinations held in February and March. The nationwide pass percentage was 83.4%, marginally higher than last year’s 83.01%.

Keeping with a trend that has persisted over several years, girls performed better than the boys: 88.75% passed the test compared to 79.4%. For the first time, the board shared the passing percentage of transgender students. Of the 28 transgender students who took the test, 83.33% cleared it.

Among regions, Thiruvananthapuram recorded the highest pass percentage at 98.2%, followed by Chennai at 92.93% and Delhi at 91.87%.

The two girls who topped, scoring 499 out of 500, had elected for the Humanities stream. This is the third consecutive year when students with this set of subjects have topped the CBSE Class 12 examination, a trend that school principals said now seems to be influencing subject choices. “Earlier, students used to take Humanities only when they had no option left. Things have changed now. Students who top Class 10 are now choosing Humanities. Also, the CBSE marking scheme has become very lenient over the years,” said Amita Wattal, principal of Springdales School.

At the second position stood three girls — Gaurangi Chawla from Rishikesh; Aishwarya from Bareli; and Bhavya from Jind — who scored 99.6%. The third spot was shared by 18 students from across the nation who scored 99.4%. These included two students from Delhi — Mehak Talwar from Delhi Public School, Rohini, and Veeraj Jindal from Vasant Valley School, Vasant Kunj. As many as 17,693 students scored 95% and above, which is substantially higher from last year’s 12,737. There was also a substantial increase in the number of students getting more than 90% — from last year’s 72,599 to 94,299 students this year.

According to officials in DU, this increase will have a direct impact on cut-off scores, since more than 70% applications for admissions received by the university are from CBSE students.

“The first cut-off this year is likely to go further up. A slight increase (in cut offs) cannot be denied. However, it depends a lot on the number of registrations, as many toppers also opt for other professional courses,” said Rajeev Gupta, dean of students’ welfare (DSW), Delhi University.

The results came as a surprise for most since the board did not announce the date in advance. “Most of the schools were under the impression that the Class 12 results would be announced after May 15. We got to know about the results being announced on Thursday around 11am,” said Ashok Pandey, principal of Ahlcon International School, Mayur Vihar: CBSE chairperson Anita Karwal said results were announced 23 days sooner compared to last year in order to make college admissions smoother. “This year, we completed the evaluation process within 28 days after the exams got over. It’s because of a Delhi HC order last year wherein the board was directed to announce results early and make the re-evaluation process quicker. The order had come to make college admission process easier for students across the country,” she said. In terms of institution-wise pass percentage, Kendriya Vidyalayas Sangathan outperformed others at 98.54%, followed by Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (96.62%), Central Tibetan School Administration (96.06%), government-aided schools (88.49%), government schools (82.5%) and independent schools (82.59%). Union HRD minister Prakash Javadekar congratulated the government schools on their performance. “Congratulations KV for 98.54 % success rate and JNV for 96.62% success rate even the general result is 83.4%. Government schools have fared better,” he tweeted. Among differently abled candidates, Lavannya Balakrishnan of Gurugram’s Heritage School emerged as the all-India topper by securing 97.8%.

Delhi region’s overall pass percentage increased to 91.87% from last year’s 89%.