Bethune Collegiate School students celebrate their Madhyamik results on Friday. Picture by Sanat Kr Sinha
The number of students with scores above 90 per cent has dipped in three subjects in Madhyamik this year compared with last year’s results. The subjects are mathematics, geography and life science.
The results of the Class X board exams, declared on Friday, show that 17,776 students have scores above 90 percent (AA grade) in mathematics, compared to 22,832 last year.
In life science, the number of students with an AA grade has plunged to 22,846 from 28,684 last year.
In geography, the number this year is 42,526. Last year it was 49,994.
This year, the number of students getting an AA grade in all seven subjects has improved.
Last year, the number of students with AA grades was 1,58,996. This year it is 1,60,159.
This year, the total number of candidates who wrote the examination stood at 9,13,883. With 7,91,088 candidates qualifying the examination, the pass percentage was 86.56, said officials of the secondary education board.
Last year, the pass percentage was 86.31 and the volume of candidates was 8,71,839.
A school education department official said the drop has been registered in the three subjects despite a mild improvement in the overall pass percentage.
A senior board official said they would find out the reason behind the drop in the number of students with AA grades in the three subjects.
"The results have just been declared. We have yet to conduct a comparative study of the results. If there are any drops, our experts will analyse it internally and make their observations," Subrata Ghose, the board secretary, told Metro.
The top scorers in the remaining four subjects — first language, second language, physical science and history — increased compared to last year.
Swapan Mandal, of the Bengal Teachers’ and Employees’ Association, said: “It is a matter of concern that out of the three subjects that have registered a decline in students with AA grades, life science and geography are considered as scoring papers. The board must assess what went wrong. Are the students not taking any interest in these subjects? We need to know why there is a fall in mathematics".
The secondary education board asked the school heads to visit https://www.wbbsedata.com after noon on May 2 for post-publication scrutiny (PPS) and post-publication review (PPR) of Madhyamik answer scripts. Applications will be received till 5pm on May 17.
The login and application details are available on the board website.
The board also announced that applications for certified copies of answer scripts, under the RTI Act 2005, must reach the respective regional offices of the board within 75 days of the publication of the results (by July 16).