Over 96% pass Class XII exam

Coimbatore: Over 96% students taking the Class XII state board exam have passed from the district, results of which were announced on Thursday. With a pass percentage of 96.39%, Coimbatore district stood third in the state, following table-topper Tirupur and Erode.
The pass percentage has improved marginally from last year, while the district improving its position from last year, when it was ranked fourth.
A total of 32,874 students had appeared for the exams, of which 31,686 have passed. Girls outshone boys this year too, with 97.5% of girls and 94.98% of boys passing the exams.
Coimbatore chief education officer (CEO) P Usha said the performance of all students in schools across categories, and all students across groups has improved this year. As compared to 91 schools last year, this year 176 schools in the district have seen all their students pass the exams. Among these, seven are government schools as compared to the one government school which saw 100% results last year, she said.
Biochemistry, nursing general, communicative English, and home science papers recorded a 100% pass rate.
Coimbatore collector K Rajamani, in a release, said 1,469 students have scored 100% marks in at least one subject. This was 1,136 students more than the last year, he said. He congratulated school education officials, teachers, students, and parents who had worked for this.
Teachers said the results announced on Thursday morning caught them by surprise. “It was a complete surprise for us, we had not been informed earlier that we would be getting the results,” said a government school teacher from the city.
This year, in Coimbatore, science group has seen 96.5% students pass, commerce group 97.13%, arts group 90.15%, and vocational group 90.01%.
Teachers and school representatives say, overall, arts group students have performed better than science students, and also the individual performances of science group students has dipped this year. They attribute this to the new syllabus.
A chemistry teacher from a government school from the district said, usually in the science group, students score 70% to 90% marks in science and math papers. “But this year, they have scored only 40% to 60%. While the overall pass percentage in science group is around 96% including all schools, there are more number of students who have failed in math and science in government schools. Students with less marks in science and math subjects would find it difficult to get admitted in professional courses or B.Sc courses,” said the teacher.