Kolkata girl in global 1% with perfect international board score

KOLKATA: A student of Heritage School, Ranjika Basu Majumdar, has topped the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP), achieving a 45/45 score to become part of the top 1% of such students globally. This is the first time anywhere in eastern India that a student has got the “perfect score”. A multi-talented 18-year-old, Majumdar will be leaving the country soon to pursue an undergraduate programme in international relations in the Netherlands.
Majumdar had initially taken up science in the ISC stream for Plus-II, but, after attending classes for three months, realised that pure science was not for her. “I wanted to study social sciences and languages alongside science and maths, and that was possible only in the IB Board. So I switched over. I was lucky that my school runs two boards simultaneously,” she said.
Majumdar has been learning German for five years and has won scholarships from Goethe Institut to visit Gernany. “It was then that I realised that I needed to be in a stream of studies that would lead me to Europe,” she said. The student has got admission to the Leiden University in Netherlands for a three-year UG programme in international relations and organisations, and her campus is next to the International Court of Justice at the Hague.
“It is so exciting to think that I will be able to witness events unfold live in front of me rather than just read about them. I will be at the heart of global politics,” she said.
Majumdar had six subjects in her IB Plus-II programme that were divided into three majors and three standard subjects.
“I am happy that I could study maths and chemistry along with languages and social science subjects. This has broadened my vista,” she said.
Proud of her achievements, principal of the school Seema Sapru said, “We had expected Majumdar to do well, but she has surpassed our expectations. She is multi-talented; a trained vocalist, an adept public speaker, and a brilliant student. She is among the top 1% IB students this year to get the perfect score.”