The third-semester exam results for Class XII students of the state board — the first under the new semester-based system — have shown a rise in the pass percentage but a decline in the number of top scorers.
The results, based on multiple-choice questions (MCQs) answered on OMR sheets, were announced on Friday.
Out of 6,05,274 students who passed, only 0.48% secured the highest “O” grade (90-100 marks). In contrast, 1.07% of the 4.3 lakh successful candidates in the last higher secondary exam — held under the old system — had achieved the highest grade.
While the proportion of top scorers declined, the overall pass percentage rose to 93.72, compared to 90.79% in May under the earlier format.
Council president Chiranjib Bhattacharjee, addressing a news conference, said: “It is true that only a meagre percentage of students got the highest grade. We have to analyse the reasons. This percentage should have gone up.”
Till last year, HS students appeared for one board exam at the end of the two-year course. Under the new semester-based system, introduced last year, the course is divided into four semesters. The third and fourth semesters are conducted by the council, while schools hold the first and second.
Bhattacharjee had earlier said that under the semester model, the number of students getting the top grade would increase. However, the initial data suggests that students struggled with the MCQ pattern. “The percentage of students scoring the top grade should have gone up since they were tested only through MCQs,” said a council official.
Bhattacharjee explained that the MCQs were designed to prepare science students for entrance exams like the JEEs. “This might have inconvenienced students who were not prepared for such a pattern.”
Schools like Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith, Purulia, and Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya, Narendrapur, accounted for 55 of the 69 students in the list of toppers. “These schools have been working hard to prepare their students for competitive exams,” he said.