CHENNAI: Chennai region recorded a pass percentage of 96.17 in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Class 12 board exams, the results of which were announced on Monday.The region, which comprises Tamil Nadu and a few neighbouring States, recorded the third highest pass percentage in the country, preceded by Thiruvananthapuram (97.67) and Bengaluru (97.05). The conduct of the board exams was interrupted by repeated lockdowns across the country and many students could not write their Business Studies, Computer Science and Informatics Practices papers.
This year, the board has not issued any merit list, and has replaced the term “fail” with “essential repeat”.
Instead of rescheduling the cancelled exams, the board considered the average marks scored by each student in the best three out of the four performed subjects, and awarded it for the cancelled papers. If a student had attended only three exams, the average marks of the best two papers were awarded to other papers.
According to a Statewise break-up of the results released by the CBSE later in the day, Tamil Nadu has secured the second highest pass percentage among States. While Lakshwadeep which is a Union Territory had a 100 per cent pass rate, Kerala secured the highest pass percentage among States (97.7). The pass percentage among girls (97.9) was slightly higher than boys (96.8).Meanwhile, the CBSE has begun their post-result counselling to address concerns of students and parents.
A student from Chennai has secured 498. A Balakrishnan, of Maharishi Vidyamandir, secured a centum in Physics, Chemistry, Maths and Computer Science, however fell shy by two marks in English. “I spent at least six hours each day during study holidays,” he said adding that he hopes to crack the Joint Entrance Exam. “I might take Computer Science. I have developed an interest for it in recent days,” he said.Vasanthi Vishwanathan, principal, Vels Vidyashram, said she was extremely satisfied with students’ performance. “The overall performance was better than previous year even though exams were interrupted,” she said.
Sujatha Venkatesh, a commerce student from Vels, who cumulatively scored 495 marks out of 500 in total, said: “I’m extremely grateful to my school and family. I studied on my own without going to any additional classes. All I did was revise every day’s portion after going home,” she said. She said that she wanted to pursue Certified Management Accountancy. Sujatha added that she would have scored a centum in Business studies and Informatics Practices if exams were conducted.
Kendriya Vidyalaya (IIT) principal M Manickasamy said that almost a third of students in his school scored over 90 per cent. “Thirty students scored 90 per cent and above. All students from our school passed,” he said. The CBSE has also begun their post-result counselling for students and parents to address psychological concerns as well as other queries. Students or parents can call 1800-11-8004 from 9.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m till July 27.
‘Edge in admissions’
Some matriculation school teachers fear that this may create an advantage for CBSE students while applying for higher education. While the CBSE has announced results on Monday, 718 students from the State Board will write their final public exam on July 26.
“We are unsure when results will be announced. The exam itself is a fortnight away. CBSE students may start applying to colleges that do not require an entrance exam,” said the principal of a matriculation school in Chennai. P Vijayalakshmi, the principal of Chinmaya Vidyalaya, however argued that State Board students always get their result before CBSE students and this year was an exception because of the pandemic. “All State colleges will definitely wait for the result of State Board as most students belong to it,” she said.
KR Nandhakumar, general secretary of the Tamil Nadu Nursery Primary Matriculation Higher Secondary and CBSE Schools Association said they welcomed CBSE’s decision to not conduct pending exams and instead use an alternative scoring method. “However, this may put State board students in anxiety until their results come out. Since only a few hundred did not write the State Board exam, the government should have considered a different scoring method,” he said.
Student in chennai scores 498 marks out of 500
A student from Chennai has secured 498 in the exams. In a telephone conversation with Express, the student, A Balakrishnan, of Maharishi Vidyamandir, said: “498? No, I did not expect that. It was a pleasant surprise.” He added that he was hoping to crack the Joint Entrance Examination as well.