After no-show on Madhyamik list, Kolkata students score big in Higher Secondary exams

KOLKATA: Reversing the result trend after Madhyamik, where not a single Kolkata student found a position on the top-10 merit list, 10 among 130 securing the top six slots in the Higher Secondary exams are from Kolkata.
There are several reasons that are being touted by teachers and educationists behind the success of city students in the HS. “Physics, chemistry and statistics — all the three papers were suspended this year. If the candidates managed to score 100 in maths, it got reflected in the other subjects in which there were no exams, leading to a massive increase in the score,” pointed out Saugata Basu, general secretary of the West Bengal Government School Teachers’ Association.

Basu also added that the difference is reflected in the HS since students who take admission in the science stream in Class XI are granted seats based on the merit, unlike in primary classes where admissions are through the lottery system. “Over the last few years, it has become a trend that Kolkata students are faring better in HS than in Madhyamik,” Basu said.
Among the other reasons projected behind the success of Kolkata students, teachers explained that the selective subjects, which are chosen by the students, allowed them to concentrate more on the subjects of their choice. “Also, the peripheral support system that is required beyond the school is easily available in a city compared to the suburbs. The students get an advantage of availing tuition from professional coaching institutes, which helps them to succeed,” said a government school teacher.
High marks can also be attributed to more and more teachers being well-oriented with the HS syllabi and the textbooks. The students have been well-acquainted with the marking pattern, question format and also the model answers. “In the HS, there are several students who have secured excellent scores. The average results are also good, which matters for the overall performance. This particular batch of students had every potential to secure good marks,” said Arijit Mitra, the principal of Nava Nalanda Group of Schools.
Papiya Singha Mahapatra, headmistress of Sakhawat Memorial Govt Girls’ High School, was elated with the result of Srotasree Ray, who scored 499. “She has always been an exceptionally brilliant student. Srotasree had missed the ranks in Madhyamik by a whisker because of English marks. This year, after the test examinations (pre-Boards), she has improved her performance,” Mahapatra said.
Among 91 students who had appeared in the HS from the school, 30 have bagged above 90%.
“Students in the humanities stream had appeared in more subjects than science candidates. Thus, humanities students have secured fewer marks than science candidates who despite not appearing in as many as three subjects could manage very scores,” the headmis-tress added.