Maharashtra: At 93.8%, SSC pass rate drops too, but 151 students score 100%

PUNE: As is the trend nationally in all education boards this year, Maharashtra's pass percentage in the state board exam for Std X declined by 3.1% as compared to 2022 when it was 96.9%.
Chairman of the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Sharad Gosavi attributed the decline to the impact of the pandemic on self-studies, slow pace of writing, a copying-free movement and curb in concessions given for the examination during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Gosavi said, "The state board had withdrawn all the concessions given to students last year. There is some impact on their performance and it is reflected in the results of not just Maharashtra but also in the CBSE, CICSE and other state board results this year. Measures undertaken to conduct the exam free of copying also impacted the results up to 1%."
The pass percentage is the lowest in four years - in 2019, it was 82.4% owing to the withdrawal of internal examinations. The next year, internal marks made a comeback and the pass percentage was 97.3.
This year, 93.8% of the 15.41 lakh students registered for the examination passed in the nine divisions, including Pune, Mumbai, Latur, Aurangabad, Nagpur, Konkan, Kolhapur, Nashik, and Amravati.
Konkan division was first with 98.2%, Kolhapur came next with 96.7% and Pune was third with 95.6%. Nagpur was at the bottom of the rung with 92%.
The results were announced on Friday for the exam held in March-April. This year, after almost two decades, the results were announced earlier than the normal dates by a week.
The exam was based on the full syllabus while the extra writing time of 30 minutes was dropped.
Students were given given 10 minutes more after the official closing time of the paper. "This move was to curb the circulation of any question paper on social media," Gosavi said.
Schools have reported that not all students are able to complete the paper in the stipulated time, he added.
The board had given a day off between two papers. A total of 393 trained counsellors by the State Council of Education Research and Training were appointed to resolve the queries of students.
Among the districts in Maharashtra, Sindhudurg was on top with 98.5% , Ratnagiri followed with 97.9% and Kolhapur with 97.2%.
Gosavi said that over 86,500 students were eligible for re-examination and 33,306 for the attempt to keep terms and will be able to enter the FYJC admission process from the first round but will have to attempt the subjects they failed during the supplementary exams.