Aryan Joshi, Isha Damle, Kaustubh Chourasia, Preet Jain

More students have cleared the HSC (Class XII) exams of Maharashtra state board this year compared to last year. The results were declared on Thursday. The overall pass percentage has improved by 4.78 per cent, from 85.88 per cent in 2019 to 90.66 per cent this year. Of the 14,13,687 students who appeared for the exams, 12,81,712 students passed. Among repeat candidates, 33,703 passed out of 86,341.

All streams — Arts, Science, Commerce and Vocational education — saw improved overall performance. The overall pass percentage of girls (93.88 per cent) was 5.84 per cent more than that of boys (88.04per cent). The pass percentage of students with special needs was 93.57 per cent.

Of the nine divisions — Mumbai, Latur, Konkan, Aurangabad, Nagpur, Pune, Kolhapur, Amravati and Nashik — across the state, Mumbai ranked seventh with a pass percentage of 89.35 per cent. Last year, it had ranked eighth with a pass percentage of 83.85. Nagpur, which had ranked the lowest last year with a pass percentage of 82.51, ranked fifth this year with 91.65.

Among the districts of Mumbai division — Raigad, Thane, Palghar, Mumbai Suburban and Mumbai City — Raigad scored the highest with a pass percentage of 91.28 per cent. For Mumbai division too, a leap in pass percentages was seen across Arts, Science, Commerce and Vocationaleducation. In all, 43,370 students in Mumbai region scored 75 per cent and above this year, compared to 34,543 last year.

The HSC exams were conducted from February 18 to March 18, and were completed before the lockdown was announced. Paper patterns had been changed last year for Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Maths. City college principals reported a marginal increase in pass percentages across Arts, Science and Commerce. For KC College, the overall pass percentage increased from 96.76 per cent last year to 99.63 per cent; 89 students scored above 90 per cent from last year’s 82. In Mithibai College, the overall pass percentage increased marginally this year to 99.73 per cent. In all, 36 Arts, 15 Science and 131 Commerce students scored above 90 per cent.

Jai Hind College saw slight increase in overall pass percentage. For Ruia College, it increased by about 7 per cent, said principal Anushree Lokur.

Principals also pointed to the competition between boards, which is expected to become tougher this year with CBSE and ICSE scores also increasing. “While the performance has improved, the story during admissions is expected to remain the same as previous years. A system needs to be in place to ensure a degree of equivalence in the marks scored by different boards,” said Jai Hind College principal Ashok Wadia.

St Xavier’s College principal Rajendra Shinde said, “Our college has seen a slight rise in the pass percentage, and the admission for colleges is set to get tougher.”

Kaustubh Chourasia of Pace Junior College in Borivali scored 96.62 per cent in science. “I focused on completing the syllabus in time and paying attention to core concepts. I would play football to relieve stress,” said the Dahisar resident.

A student of Patkar college, Chaitali Karekar scored 96.46 per cent in Science. Karekar is now set to appear for engineering entrance exams. A resident of Goregaon, she said, “I ensured there was no backlog in revision. I would study chapters the same day they were taught in class.” Jai Hind College student Preet Jain scored 96 per cent in Arts and topped her college. Speaking to The Indian Express, she said, “My strategy was to study at night to learn faster.” She now plans to appear for law entrance exams and eventually appear for UPSC exams.

Chess, swimming

At a time when most students were gearing for board exams, city student Aryan Joshi was playing chess tournaments and participated in a state-level para-swimming championship. The RA Podar College student scored 70 per cent in his Class 12 exams. Joshi, who is 100 per cent visually impaired, played six chess tournaments last year. For these, he toured Serbia, Ahmedabad and Spain. The swimming competition was held in Gondia in October. “I began studying in January. I studied with the help of audio books and with support of my family and writer. My college supported me by taking my internal exams a little late,” said the Dombivli resident, adding, “I learnt important chapters as I did not have enough time. My score is not high, but I’m satisfied.”

Topper, swimming champion

Isha Damle, of RA Podar College, was selected for national-level swimming competition that was earlier scheduled in March this year. Damle, whose right hand has been amputated, has been swimming since Class VIII and took part in the state para-swimming competition last year. She has scored 98.76 per cent in Commerce. She was awarded 15 marks for sports. “I am now preparing for my CA foundation exams,” she said.