Seven students from Mumbai metropolitan region score 99.8% in ICSE exam

Mumbai: Seven students across Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, and Thane scored 99.8% in the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) Class 10 exam, which was the highest score in the Mumbai metropolitan region this year.

The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) on Monday declared the results of its ICSE and Indian School Certificate (ISC) Class 12 exams. The passing percentage in Maharashtra for ICSE-Class 10 and ISC-Class 12 was 99.96% and 99.71%, respectively.

The students who scored 99.8% in the ICSE board exam are Sukrit Khanna and Karan Philip from Bombay Scottish School, Mahim; Aayushi Joshi from Lilavatibai Podar High School, Khar; Janmejay Kothari from the Cathedral and John Connon School, Fort; Tithi Pravin Agrawal from the Dhirubhai Ambani International School, BKC; Param Bhaiwal from Podar International, Nerul; and Kimaya Bauva from Sulochanadevi Singhania School, Thane.

Khanna, the son of PD Hinduja Hospital chief executive Gautam Khanna, credited his success to his family and teachers. “I studied hard for my class 10 examination. I love to play the piano as a stress buster and I am taking formal education for the same,” he said. Khanna has picked the science stream for Class 11 and 12, and will continue to study at Bombay Scottish. Fellow topper Philip said, “I used to read books and watch football matches for my stress buster. Now, I am preparing for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE).”

Students from 265 ICSE and 70 ISC schools appeared for the board examinations in the state. There were 28,588 candidates for the ICSE boards, out of which 15,425 were boys and 13,163 girls. For the ISC boards, 3,840—1,743 boys and 2,097 girls—students appeared. In both ICSE and ISC boards, girls outperformed the boys. There were 11 unsuccessful candidates each in both exams.

The ICSE boards were held from February 21 to March 28, comprising 60 written subjects, out of which 20 were related to Indian languages, 13 to foreign languages and one to a classical language. The ISC boards were held from February 12 to April 4 in 47 written subjects, out of which 12 were related to Indian languages, four to foreign languages, and two to classical languages. Two ISC papers, chemistry and psychology, were rescheduled after a potential leak of question papers was alleged.

In the ISC boards, Ayaan Waris from Cathedral and John Connon School topped the science stream with 99.75%. Aayati Goyal from the Jamnabai Narsee School, Vile Parle, was the topper in commerce with 98.75%, while Rehaan Singh from the Sulochanadevi Singhania School scored the highest, 99.75%, in humanities.

Goyal chooses to go to commerce to do further studies in economics. She scored 98.8% in class 10. “I love mathematics, accounts, and economics, so I enjoyed my studies throughout the year. I am planning to pursue undergraduate study in economics at Delhi University or Ashoka University,” she said.

While analysing the board results, Sunita George, principal of Bombay Scottish, said, “This year, the difficulty level was higher than in comparison with the last few years. But overall, the result was as good as last year. For our school, the ISC result is better than last year, while 75% of students scored 90% and above in ICSE.”

No merit list

CISCE decided to discontinue publishing a merit list this year, following similar moves by other boards in the country. Joseph Emmanuel, chief executive, CISCE, said, “In a progressive move, all other boards in the country have not had merit lists since the last few years. Considering this, to stop unhealthy competition, we have decided to discontinue the merit list from this academic year.”

Welcoming the move, George said, “This decision helps to cut down pressure on the parents as well as the school about the marks. Considering new education policy, at some point, we have to stop thinking about the numbers.”