In Mumbai, one required a vaccination certificate to travel in local trains and vaccination for children below 18 years of age, which comprises Class XII students too, started much later. (Representational)The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education declared the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) results on Wednesday and Mumbai ranked the lowest among all nine divisions with a passing percentage of 90.91.
This is a huge decline in Mumbai’s passing percentage as compared to last year when Mumbai had ranked second among all divisions with a 99.79 pass percentage.
Educationists from the city, however, say that this year’s result should be compared with examinations held in the pre-pandemic period as last year’s figures definitely show an inflation of marks.
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“Due to pandemic conditions, the board exams were cancelled last year. Results were declared based on a formula designed to evaluate students on combination of internal assessment and earlier academic record. This resulted in soaring marks. However, the conventional pen and paper format of the state board exam was back in the year 2022,” a teacher from a junior college in Mumbai said.
When compared to pre-pandemic results, Mumbai division continues to record a similar pass percentage. It was 89.35 per cent in 2020 and the Mumbai division ranked sixth among all divisions. Compared to these results, the HSC 2022 result continues to remain higher, presumably due to several student-friendly measures that were implemented this year considering the high levels of anxiety around offline exams. Facilities such as reduced syllabus, additional time to complete paper, and appearing for exams at respective junior colleges seem to have benefitted students.
Educationists gave another reason for Mumbai’s poor performance. “Most junior colleges in Mumbai are attached to degree colleges that are far away from students’ residences, requiring local train commute in most cases. Even as offline learning resumed a few months before the board exam, many junior colleges continued online as students could not travel. On the contrary, in most other divisions, offline learning had resumed,” a principal from a city college said.
In Mumbai, one required a vaccination certificate to travel in local trains and vaccination for children below 18 years of age, which comprises Class XII students too, started much later.
Mumbai pass percentage in last five years
| 2022 | 90.91 |
| 2021 | 99.79 |
| 2020 | 89.35 |
| 2019 | 83.85 |
| 2018 | 87.44 |
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