CHENNAI: More for less. That’s the equation that Class X students across Tamil Nadu managed to prove as the board exam results were released on Friday. Since 2012, the number of students appearing for the SSLC exam dropped by nearly 33,000 to 11.13 lakh students — yet, the number of students who managed to pass and those who secured the much-coveted centum, shot up yet again.
For the first time in recent history, the overall pass percentage inched into the 90s, as a staggering 9.26 lakh (90.7 per cent) students managed to pass under the Samacheer Kalvi syllabus.
“Our pass percentage has been consistently improving from 86 per cent to 90 per cent now. It is because of the standard of education that we have imparted and the streamlined exam structure,” said a Department of Government Exams spokesperson.
With great results come greater centum tallies. And the evaluators ensured that the dreams of quite a lot of studious children came true. Compared to the 89,398 centums that were doled out last year, a massive 1.15 lakh centums were awarded this year. “It was only because of science. This year maths centums have dipped, but centums in science have doubled to 69,560. Lot of students are thrilled because two years ago less than 10,000 students got centums,” said Meena Tyagarajan, a science teacher at a school in the city.
A look at the list of top rankers reveals that it was Dharmapuri all the way — of the 19 students who managed a shared first rank, nine were from Dharmapuri.