The West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education has increased the number of Plus Two seats in all government-run schools from 275 to 400 to accommodate all successful students. It has also revised the admission notice for students of Class 11.
The decision comes a day after the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education declared the results of the Madhyamik examination (Class 10). The board recorded a pass percentage of 86.60% with 949,927 students clearing the exam.
The council has also lowered the percentage required for admission to the science stream. Instead of a minimum requirement of 45% earlier, students will now be able to apply for the science stream in Class 11 with 35%.
A senior Education Department official told The Indian Express that the decision to increase the number of seats was taken with the large number of students who cleared the Madhyamik exam in mind. This will help more students get admitted to Class 11.
The official said the past 10 years showed a decline in the number of students opting for science. The decision to lower the minimum pass percentage was made to encourage them to take up science.
The board said 1,098,775 students appeared for the Madhyamik exam, held between March 7 and 16. The pass percentage last year was 100%. Ramharipur Ramakrishna Mission High School, Bankura, student Arnab Ghorai and Burdwan CMS School student Raunak Mondal were joint first with 693 marks. As many as 114 students bagged a spot in the merit list top 10.
Data shows 488,907 boys and 609,868 girls appeared for the exam. The pass percentage among boys was 88.59% (431,150), while that for girls was 85% (514,718). Among the districts, East Midnapore recorded the highest pass percentage with 97.63%, followed by Kalimpong with 94.27%, West Midnapore with 94.62%, Kolkata at 94.36%, Jhargram at 92.07%, North 24 Parganas at 91.98%, South 24 Parganas at 89.61%, and Maldah at 87.11%.
