The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Corporation schools register 67 p.c. pass in SSLC

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 28, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Corporation schools register 67 p.c. pass in SSLC

By Akhila Seetharaman

CHENNAI, MAY 27. Sixty seven per cent of tenth class students from Chennai Corporation schools in the city passed the Secondary School Leaving Certificate examination this year, about ten percentage points less than the state-wide success rate of 77.4 per cent.

Individual toppers from Corporation schools, however, scored 488, 482 and 478 marks out of 500, not far behind the state top score of 495.

Higher secondary schools at Saidapet produced the three top scores among schools run by the civic body, with the girls in the lead. The girls' school bagged the top two scores (A. Thameem Ansariya - 488, and U. Saranya - 482) and the boys' school followed close with the third highest score (L. Ganesh - 478). While all three toppers scored perfect 100s in mathematics, the first and the third also maximised their science scores. The first and second toppers notched near-perfect marks in social science. Nearly 7,800 students from 65 Corporation schools appeared for the board examination this year. Around 5,200 passed. The pass percentage varied widely from school to school. While some schools, such as Corporation High School, Goyaathope, and Corporation High School, Kalyanapuram, mustered a mere 14 per cent, schools such as Corporation High School, C.I.T. Nagar, sailed through with cent per cent results.

Last year, the proportion of students who passed the examination was higher; though by only a single percentage point.

"Even though the pass percentage may be slightly lower this year, there is an overall increase in the average mark scored by students who did make the grade," said Deputy Commissioner of the Corporation, in charge of education, parks and playfields, D.P. Yadav. "This is also very much evident in the class 12 results," he said.

He cautioned against evaluating Corporation schools strictly against the `pass percentage' barometre, and said that many factors determined the performance of Corporation schools, especially since they cater to students with socio-economic disadvantages.

Top scorers

Thameem Ansariya: Tamil 96; English 94; Maths 100; Science 100; Social Science, 98.

U. Saranya: Tamil 93; English 96; Maths 100; Science 94; Social Science 99.

L. Ganesh: Tamil 90; English 93; Maths 100; Science 100; Social Science 98.

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