VELLORE: Vellore district witnessed a notable decline in the class 10 examination results, landing at the bottom of Tamil Nadu's rankings recording a pass percentage of 82.07%. This marks a significant drop from the previous year's pass rate of 91.34%, a 9.27% decrease.
Official sources reported that a total of 18,357 students -- 9,104 boys and 9,253 girls -- from 254 schools across the district appeared for the examinations this year. Of them, 15,066 students passed -- 6,885 boys (75.63%) and 8,181 girls (88.41%).
Further, among the 135 government schools in the district, 10,483 students -- 4,626 boys and 5,857 girls -- appeared for the examinations. Of them, 8,141 students -- 3,192 boys and 4,949 girls -- cleared the exam, recording a pass rate of 77.66%.
Despite efforts to bolster the students' performance this year, the district witnessed a setback, slipping to the lowest rank in the state. Additionally, the pass rate for government schools plummeted from 88.99% to 77.66%.
The district education officer said, "Failures were more prevalent in government-aided schools, with students who excelled in other subjects struggling in social science. There were suggestions to reevaluate the social science answer papers of students who failed in the subject."
In response, principals of schools have been tasked with implementing proactive measures to ensure students succeed in supplementary examinations. Further actions will be taken based on detailed investigations, she added.
In contrast, Ranipet district witnessed a three per cent increase in pass percentage, compared to last year, recording 85%. The district education officer of Ranipet said that the officials are anticipating even greater improvements in the upcoming year.
Meanwhile, Tirupattur and Tiruvannamalai registered pass percentages of 88% and 86% respectively, with the latter witnessing a decline of two per cent.