CHENNAI: The results of State board Class 12 examinations were declared on Thursday. According to data released by the Directorate of Government Examinations, 92.3 per cent of candidates passed the examinations, recording a marginal increase from last year’s 91.3 per cent. Among the 7,212 higher secondary schools in the State, 2,120 schools recorded 100 per cent result. Tirupur recorded the highest pass percentage of 97.12 followed by Erode (96.99) and Coimbatore (96.39). Only 87.05 per cent of candidates from Chennai passed.
While 94.8 per cent of girls became eligible for higher studies, the figure was 89.41 per cent among boys. Nearly 86 per cent of government school students and 98.7 per cent of Matriculation school students cleared the exams. The data also showed that over 94 per cent of students from government-aided schools cleared the tests.
“Matriculation schools could have performed better, but the new syllabus was implemented only this year. The performance will improve next year,” said KR Nandhakumar, general secretary of the Tamil Nadu Nursery Primary Matriculation Higher Secondary and CBSE Schools Association. He added that CBSE students have performed better than State board students this year. “This may give a marginal advantage to CBSE students in college admissions,” he said.
The data also showed that pass percentage of students from Corporation schools was 88, Adi Dravidar Welfare Schools 78.6, Tribal Welfare Schools 91.12 and Social Welfare Schools 93.49 per cent. Further, the pass rate among students with disabilities was over 88 per cent. Also, 50 out of 62 prisoners who wrote the exams passed.
No details given yet on supplementary exams
The State Board exams were conducted from March 3 - 24. However, the results were delayed as over 35,000 students could not write the final examination which fell during the lockdown. School Education Minister KA Sengottaiyan had informed that only 718 students expressed willingness to write the exam late July. The results are generally announced in early May every year.
The government, however, is yet to release the procedure for revaluation and retotalling. No details on supplementary exams have been issued either. PK Ilamaran, a leader of the Tamil Nadu Government Teachers Association, said the State should allow students who failed in the public exam, to rewrite the exam with the students who could not attend the last exam. “At least students who failed in one subject should be allowed this option,” he said.
The State government passed all the candidates of Class 10 since exams could not be conducted during the lockdown. Students can check the exam results in the website tnresults.nic.in, dge1.tn.nic.in and dge2.tn.nic.in. A message with the marks will also be sent to the registered mobile number of Class 12 students.
97.12%
Tirupur recorded the highest pass percentage of 97.12 followed by Erode (96.99) and Coimbatore (96.39) districts. This year’s pass percentage of 92.3 is marginally higher than last year’s 91.3 per cent
Success Story
Determination defeats hunger
Gabriel Isabella had to fight several odds to score 470 out of 600. Her father died when she was an infant. It was Isabella’s mother who raised her, working as a contract labourer. Isabella says her mother would often starve so that she could eat. Despite that, the teenager came down with stomach ulcers. “I was vomiting blood on the day of my Tamil exams. The doctor advised me to eat fruits, but I cannot remember the last time I tasted a fruit,” she says.
Aspiring to fullfill dad’s dream
Just a month before the exams began, S Abirami lost her dad. The news shattered Abirami. School authorities were worried she would not perform well in the exams. But, Abirami kept going. She managed to score 366 out of 600. “I want to become a nurse,” she tells Express. “It was my father’s dream.” With the father gone, her future education, and the finances required for it, are challenges to her mother, to which she does not have answers now.
When marriage is not a priority
While most girls in her village, a tribal hamlet in Erode, are married off once they turn 18, Priya’s father made it a point to educate all his four daughters to the best of his abilities. “In class 11, I did not have teachers for physics, chemistry, and biology,” says Priya. “After repeated appeals, arrangements were made to bring in temporary teachers. They would visit once every week for a few hours,” she says. Despite all this, she has scored 333 out of 600.
Scoring victory right from kitchen
N Keerthana had her work cut out for her ever since she moved to Perumbakkam after her 10th exams. When her parents began setting up a business for the first time in their lives, Keerthana was tasked with taking care of cooking at home. “They go to the shop at 5:30 am and come back at 10pm. So after I come back from school, I make dinner. On Sundays, I cook all meals,” Keerthana says. Amid the chores, she studied and managed to score 492 out of 600.