Kochi girl emerges national topper in CBSE Class X exams

Thiruvananthapuram region tops with 99.6 pass percentage

In a stellar performance, a Kochi girl emerged a national topper in the CBSE Class X examinations.

Sreelakshmi G. of Bhavan’s Varuna Vidyalaya, Thrikkakara, secured 499 marks to share the top spot with three other students – one from Gurugram and two from Uttar Pradesh.

The CBSE declared the examinations results on Tuesday afternoon.

Kochi notched up more successes too. Theresa Soni of Christu Jayanthi Public School, Kakkanad, was among those who shared the second rank with 498 marks, and Ammu Mariam Anil of Rajagiri Public School, Kalamassery, was in third spot with 497 marks.

Four students shared the fourth spot in the State, scoring 496 marks, while three were in the fifth position with 495 marks.

Close on the heels of the Thiruvananthapuram region (Kerala and Lakshadweep) topping the country in the Class XII examinations, it bagged the top slot in the Class X examinations too, with a pass percentage of 99.6%. It had a pass percentage of 99.85% last year.

Of the 72,434 students who appeared for the examination from the region, comprising Kerala and Lakshadweep, 72,146 qualified. Lakshadweep had 271 candidates, of whom 256 qualified.

Like at the national level, girls did better than boys in the State. Of the 35,489 girls who appeared for the examination, 35,425 passed, a pass percentage of 99.82, while of the 36,943 boys who appeared for the exam, 36,719 passed (99.39%).

Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya institutions did slightly better than Kendriya Vidyalayas in the State. Of the 1,078 students who appeared for the exam, all passed. Among Kendriya Vidyalaya institutions, of the 4,262 candidates who sat for the exam, 4,255 passed, a percentage of 99.84%.

The Class X board exams were held for the first time after a decade. After following the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) till 2017, the CBSE decided to reintroduce the board exams this year. Reports of paper leak marred the exams. After mulling a re-examination for Mathematics, the government eventually decided against it.