Net gains: Class XII city toppers give credit to smartphones

Ranchi: City toppers of Class XII examination conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) credited their success to the “positive utilisation” of mobile phones.
Shakeb Arsalan of Delhi Public School-Ranchi, who scored 99.4% marks in humanities, said, “The accessibility and variety of learning content available on internet greatly aided my preparation. My results indicate the effective use of the phone.”
Talking to TOI, Smriti Goel of DPS-Ranchi, who scored 99.4 % in the commerce stream, said, “When the schools were closed due to Covid-19, video calls were the only means of communicating with teachers to resolve our doubts. Even though courses were moved offline, I used to study with the aid of my phone because internet is like an ocean and answers any query. Utilised positively, it will be beneficial for preparation.”
Aradhya Jain of Sarala Birla Public School-Mahilong, who also scoring 99.4% in commerce stream, said, “I did not take the help of any private tutor to prepare for my board exams. It was the phone alone that enabled me to complete the syllabus on time and revise the syllabus by setting reminders and highlighting the key points.”
Aditya Prakash of DPS Ranchi, who scored 98.2 % from Science stream, said, “I used to download the contents and study materials on my mobile before turning off notifications and internet connection to avoid being distracted by the device. Definitely, the phone was an excellent learning tool.”