Toil, tears and sweat of their parents saw children from humble background emerge among toppers in the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) Class XII examination, declared on Friday.
From children of scrap-dealers, to cycle mechanics, they braved the circumstances and fought all odds not just to succeed, but bag laurels.
ludhiana’s Sahil Midda, son of the cycle puncture shop owner, has declared topper by scoring 100 per cent marks in the PSEB Class XII exam, conducted between March 1 and April 5 this year.
Sahil, a commerce student in Teja Singh Swatanter Memorial Senior Secondary School, Shimla Puri, ludhiana, emerged topper in sports quota category, but declared topper as he is the youngest.
He shared the top spot with Gurdaspur’s Rishabdeep Singh, Gurdaspur’s Sumer Jeet Singh, and ludhiana’s Pratiksha — all scoring 100 percent marks in the sports category.
For the first time, the PSEB has declared two separate merit lists — academic and sports.
In the academic category, science stream student Mahima Nagpal from ludhiana’s RS Model Senior Secondary School, Shastri Nagar, was declared the topper with 99.46 percent marks. Daughter of a scrap dealer with a monthly earning of Rs 10,000, Mahima toiled hard by dedicating 18 to 20 hours a day to her studies.
She was followed by Patiala’s Government Model Senior Secondary School, Civil lines, Komal Rani with 99.33 percent and ludhiana’s RS Model Senior Secondary School, Shastri Nagar, Riya with 98.67 percent.
losing her father at an early age, Riya’s mother, a primary teacher at the same school, was the driving force behind her.
OVERAll PASS PERCENTAGE 77.59%
Out of the total 3,18,453 students appeared for the examination, 2,44,487 passed with an overall percentage of 76.77 percent. Out of these, 2,87,527 were regular students while 30,926 students completed school with open learning.
The total pass percentage, 76.77 per cent, is constituted by combining the pass percentage of regular students which is 79.55 per cent and the pass percentage of open students which is 51 per cent.
“The overall pass percentage this year is 76.77 percent against 76.24 percent in 2015 and 81.09 percent in 2014,” said PSEB chairman Tejinder Kaur Dhaliwal.
As many as 16,248 students failed, while 42,750 students got compartment, and 14,571 got re-appear.
The pass percentage of government schools is 77.59 percent, and that of aided schools is 69 percent and of affiliated or adarsh schools is 76.14 percent. The students of meritorious schools outdid others with a 97.71 percent pass percentage.
GIRlS All THE WAY
Just like previous results, girls, this year too, surpassed boys with a pass percentage of 84.03 percent against their male counterparts’ pass percentage of 71.12 percent.
A total of 1,39,414, girls appeared for the exam out of which 1,17,147 passed. The number of boys who appeared for the exam is 1,79,039, out of which 1,27,340 passed.
In 2015, the overall pass percentage for girls was 83.26 percent and 70.73 percent of boys.
RURAl STUDENTS AHEAD THEIR URBAN COUNTERPARTS
The pass percentage of urban candidates has slipped as compared to their rural colleagues. The pass percentage of urban candidates is 76.46 against 77.06 percent of rural candidates, who have performed better.
“large number of candidates appeared from the rural section. A total of 16,7791 candidates had appeared from rural section and 15,0662 appeared from the urban Punjab…this is enough to explain the difference in pass percentage,” a PSEB official told The Pioneer.
In 2015, the pass percentage for urban students was 76.05 percent, against 76.41 percent of rural students.
DEClARES TWO MERIT lISTS — ACADEMICS AND SPORTS
For the first time, the PSEB has issued two separate list of toppers — for academics and sports. The previous year, a single list had been declared which had created a lot of confusion over those students who had sports as a subject and those who didn’t.
“The policy to give additional marks was started following notification of the state government last year after directions from the Centre to promote sports,” Dhaliwal said.
PSEB has given a benefit of 15 and 25 marks to winners and participants at the state and national level sports competitions, respectively. The students who have been declared toppers would be given an award of Rs one lakh each.
This year 41 sportspersons also did exceptionally well in the academics besides their routine sports activity and they secured position in the combined merit list.
lUDHIANA SHINES
Of the total 341 students in the merit list, maximum, 114 are from ludhiana district. It was followed by Hoshiarpur with 36 students and Patiala with 33 students in the merit list. sThe districts of Tarn Taran and Shaheed Bhagat Singh (SBS) Nagar have the minimum one candidate in merit list.