Madhyamik: Slight rise in pass ratio, above-60% share dips from last year
Times of India | 3 May 2024
KOLKATA: As many as 86.3% candidates were successful, overall, in this year's Madhyamik examinations, in results declared by the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) on Thursday. The pass percentage, 86.3, was a shade higher than last year's 86.1%.
This year, a total of 8,71,839 Class 10 students took the exam, of whom 7,52,491 were successful, according to figures provided by the board.Last year, 6,37,105 students took the exam, of whom 5,48,909 were successful.
While the overall pass percentage has increased, the ratio of students scoring first division (above 60%) has dipped this year, compared to last year, from 13.6% to 12.9%. That wasn't unusual, said WBBSE president Ramanuj Ganguly. "The number of first-division marks is around this figure every year," he said. While it varies from batch to batch, it is difficult to attribute a reason," he said.
This year, a higher percentage of students have scored above 90% in mathematics, history and geography, but there has been a decline in the the percentage of high-scoring students in the languages, physical science and life science.
Some headmasters TOI approached said the dip in performance in some subjects was an indication of learning loss during Covid.
Chandan Maity, general secretary of Advanced Society For Headmasters & Headmistresses, said, “This year, more than 1,00,000 candidates failed to clear Madhyamik, which is a matter of concern. The two-year pandemic loss is very much there. In addition, there has been a huge shortage of teachers and learning loss due to extended holidays.
That is bound to have an effect on the overall results. I urge state govt to take appropriate steps to plug these gaps.” The Madhyamik results come in the backdrop of a Calcutta HC order, which has scrapped the appointment of nearly 26,000 teachers of Classes IX-XII, apart from Group D and Group C staff. The top-10 merit list has 57 students this year, down from 118 last year. Kolkata has made a comeback on the list after last year’s absence.
Though there is only one student from Kolkata district on the merit list, 11 students figure from Greater Kolkata, including students from RKM Narendrapur and Baranagar. Chandrachur Sen of Rambhola High School in Cooch Behar has secured the top rank with 693 marks (99%). Samyapriyo Guru of Purulia Zilla School has stood second with 692 (98.9%).
There are three students in the third position: Udayan Prosad of Balurghat High School, Puspita Basuri of New Integrated Government School-Illambazar and Nairit Ranjan Pal of Narandrapur RK Mission Vidyalaya, each with 691 (98.7%). CM Mamata Banerjee and education minister Bratya Basu have congratulated successful students.