The 90% club: High scores become the new normal

Gone are the days when mark sheets carrying straight As were atypical to find. Today, scores in the high 90s have become commonplace.

The recently announced Class X and XII Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) results are clear-cut examples of astonishing scores—100 per cent in some cases even.

As many as 16,92,794 students appeared across India for the Class XII examination, and nearly 1,11,544 students scored above 90 per cent, while as many as 24,867 scored 95 percent and above marks. As many as 14,96,307, or 91.61 per cent, passed the exams. The figure stood at 90.91 per cent for Chandigarh.

Class X results were similar, with 22,216,36 of the total 23,71,939 students passing the exam. A total of 1,99,944 scored above 90 percent and 45,516 went above 95 percent marks. The region’s passing percentage remained 93.71, while it remained 88.5 for Chandigarh.

“Whosoever says that marks cannot shape the future…is completely wrong. In this world of competition, the marks are equally important as maintaining a social image. And, children know about it. The recent results clearly show how hard these students worked to get good marks. Not everyone can play a sport, win an Olympiad or excel in some other field….good marks are really important to boost the morale,” said Shrishti, a Class 12 pass out, who scored 93 per cent in humanities.

If going by the record, not only CBSE but Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) and Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) results also paint similar pictures. “Every school has dozens of, and even more, students scoring 90 per cent and above. And, each school promotes them further. Even the majority of school advertisements publicise those who break into the 90 percentile. All this happens, when the majority of the students score below 90 per cent marks,” said Akash, a parent whose son scored 83 per cent in humanities.

While a section of people term “high scores” a must, there are others who see even decent scores as satisfactory. “Different people have different opinions. There are many who score even full marks, and still lack confidence. The focus should be scoring well, instead of excellent, to avoid future pressure,” said Aditi, a parent. “It’s good that children are scoring 90-95 per cent marks…it’s their effort. However, the others scoring low should not be compared. The world has changed and scoring high is common now,” said Megha, another parent,.

Young achievers

Saanvi Pani of Carmel Convent School, Sector 9, topped the city in the Class X results (and second in the tricity) by scoring 99.8 percent.

Daughter of a chartered accountant and engineer, the 16-year-old topper scored full marks in all subjects and 99 in math. “I want to attain my engineering degree from IIT. I credit my parents and teachers for my score in Class X,” said Saanvi, a resident of Panchkula.

The youngster values hobbies just as much, saying, “In my free time, I like to watch cricket. I also love Indian classical music.”

Meanwhile, students of Mind Tree School also excelled in the Class X examination, and Manya Chawla scored 97.6 per cent followed closely by Ashmeet Singh (97.2 per cent) and Esha Mittal (96.6 per cent).

Jasmine Kaur of Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School, Sector 26, meanwhile, recorded 97.8 per cent and Harshit Bhagwaria, a student of Ankur School, Panjab University, Sector 14, scored 94.2 per cent, while Manraj Singh Dhillon of Sri Guru Gobind Singh Collegiate School, Sector 26, scored 93 per cent marks.

Badminton player Avni Sandhu of Chitkara International School, Panchkula, scored 93 per cent, and state-level chess player Hardik Malik scored 92 per cent. As many as 13 students of DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, scored 90 per cent and above. Suryavir Singh topped the Bharat School, Panchkula, by scoring school 99 per cent marks and Nanki Walia (96.8), Hridyansh Malhotra (95.2), Yashita (94.8), Navraj Singh (93), Kamal Gupta (92.6), Seyakksha (91.6) and Aahaan Joshi (90.4) were the other performers. Abeer Srivastava and Ishanya Bhardwaj of St Soldier’s School, Panchkula, also scored above 95 per cent.

Chandigarh