A city that had not produced a single state Madhyamik topper in 13 years was on Wednesday saying three cheers for as many students in the top 10.

Niranjan Das from Akra Shaktigarh Rabindra Vidyapith, near Budge Budge, scored just a mark less than Ronita Jana’s 798 out of 800 and Sanjukta Ghoshal, a student of Vidya Bharati School in New Alipore, aggregated 795 to be ranked among the 10 best performers in Madhyamik 2008.

The city’s overall performance was better than the state pass percentage, which dipped by 2 points from last year.

“There has been a significant increase in the number of high performers in Calcutta, especially those with more than 700 marks,” school education minister Partha Dey said.

The city’s pass percentage increased from 74.32 last year to 77.09. Private schools did better in the Higher Secondary examinations, the results of which were declared last week, but showed improvement in Madhyamik, too.

“The trend of Madhyamik results has changed. The overall performance of many city schools has improved,” Ashok Maiti, the general secretary of the West Bengal Headmasters’ Association, said.

The improved performance was nowhere more visible than in the number of students who scored a Perfect 100 in the subject that is fashionably dreaded: math.

As many as 835 students scored 100 in the math paper, compared to only 343 last year.

South Point, which had the maximum number of candidates, put up a good show. Of the 773 students who took the test, 768 secured first-division marks and 120 of them more than 90 per cent.

“Our results are much better than last year’s, and the girls of our school have outdone the boys this time,” principal Joyoti Solomon said.

Patha Bhavan’s success rate was just as good, with only four of the 137 candidates not getting first-division marks. Nava Nalanda High School had 443 candidates, of whom 416 earned first-division marks.

The improvement in the performance of government institutions like Hindu School, Hare School and Bethune Collegiate School has been attributed to better infrastructure and induction of high-calibre teachers.

madhyamik top ten

Name: Ronita Jana
School: Jadavpur Vidyapith
Score: 798
How she did it: “I studied for a maximum of four to five hours a day. But whenever I studied, I used to concentrate fully. I believe determination is the key to my success.”
Future plans: “I want to be an astro-physicist. The sky has always amazed me and I want to explore it.”

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Name: Niranjan Das
School: Akra Shaktigarh Vidyapith
Score: 797
How he did it: “I always loved to study and would put in 10 to 12 hours a day. I had three private tutors but I primarily relied on my schoolteachers, who helped me at every step. I am happy with the result, but I will regret that I missed the top rank by a mark.”
Future plans: “I want to pursue higher studies in mathematics, which is my favourite subject.”

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Name: Uddyalok Mondol
School: Dwijendralal High School, Rampurhat
Score: 797
How he did it: “I used to study 10-12 hours a day on an average… But on some days, I would put in less than five hours. Concentration was the key.”
Future plans: “Mathematics is my favourite subject and I want to go in for research.”

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Name: Samarjit Chakraborty
School: Barasat Government School (Barasat Pearycharan Sircar Rashtriya Uchcha Vidyalaya)
Score: 796
How he did it: “I made sure that I put in at least eight to nine hours of serious hard work a day.”
Future plans: “I want to be an engineer and will appear for IIT JEE and WBJEE.”

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Name: Shirshendu Mitra
School: Bankura Zilla School
Score: 796
How he did it: “I used to study at least 16 hours a day after the school test and was very thorough with the text books. I also studied the reference books. I had five private tutors and they helped me a lot.”
Future plans: “I want to be an engineer.”

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Name: Masood Rayhan
School: Dwijendralal High School, Rampurhat
Percentage: 796
How he did it: “I preferred studying at night. That helped me a lot.”
Future plans: “Physics is my favourite subject. I want to do research in physics.”

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Name: Pallabi Saha
School: Islampur Girls High School, North Dinajpur
Score: 795
How she did it: “I had no private tutors and relied on my father, Parameswar Saha, who is a teacher of chemistry at Islampur High School, and my mother, Ratna Saha, who teaches science in my school. My father’s colleague, Pradip Bagchi, helped me with English. I used to put in four to five hours of study.”
Future plans: “I want to be a doctor and will prepare for the joint entrance examination.”

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Name: Sanjukta Ghosal
School: Vidya Bharati Girls’ School
Score: 795
How she did it: “I was never very studious but made it a habit to study for at least 10 to 12 hours after the school test. But I believe the key to my success was reading a lot of English newspapers, which helped me develop a command of the language.”
Future plans: “I am hooked to computers and have always dreamt of becoming a computer engineer.”

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Name: Soumik Ray
School: Bishnupur High School (Bankura)
Score: 795
How he did it: “I put in five hours of study daily. I read my text books thoroughly. Whenever I became tired, I would read Tintin or Feluda.”
Future plans: “My priority is to do better in Higher Secondary. Other plans will be drawn up after that.”

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Name: Subhojit Ghosh
School: Parhati High School, Memari, (Burdwan)
Score: 795
How he did it: “I studied at least 12 hours daily for the past two years. I wanted to be a topper. I made sure I was not distracted from my goal by anything. I had three private tutors for science subjects, English and history.”
Future plans: “I want to become a software engineer… I may also opt for a career in physics.”