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| Priyanuj Bhuyan of Nagaon Christjyoti School and Jyotirmoy Rajbongshi of Axam Jatiya Vidyalaya, Noonmati, celebrate their results on Friday. Priyanuj topped the HSLC exams this year, while Jyotirmoy ranked second. Pictures by Eastern Projections |
May 29: Assam today registered the highest pass percentage in the High School Leaving Certificate (Class X) examination in two decades and in the process demolished the myth that students of ill-equipped government schools cannot do well.
The Board of Secondary Education, Assam, which conducted the HSLC examination 2009, has pegged the pass percentage at 61.55.
Last year’s pass percentage was 58.68.
SEBA secretary D. Mahanta said Assam could not cross the 60 per cent mark in the last 24 years and this year’s results were a mark of the improving education scenario.
He said another highlight of this year’s results was the impressive performance by the government schools located in remote areas of the state.
“Dhemaji district, where many schools are annually ravaged by flood, has recorded the highest pass percentage of 75.91 among all the districts in the state. Lakhimpur, another district plagued by the same problem, has done well, too, with a 65.04 pass percentage. Students from three government schools in Lakhimpur district also found themselves on the merit list,” Mahanta said.
Some other government schools like Chamata H.S. School, Nalbari, Pathsala Sikshapith Adarsha High School, Barpeta, Bongaon H.S. School, Nalabari and Khowang H.S. School, Dibrugarh, which do not have proper infrastructure and facilities, also figured on the merit list.
The first position went to a student of Nagaon district.
“I was confident of securing a rank among the top 10. But the first position was totally unexpected,” said a jubilant Priyanuj Bhuyan from Christjyoti School, Nagaon.
Priyanuj does not think that the medium of instruction stands in the way of doing well, or even brilliantly. “I used to read a lot of Assamese literature,” he said.
Dhubri, another backward district, which shares its border with Bangladesh, has also done well with three students on the merit list. It has registered a pass per cent of 67.43.
Another official of SEBA said some of the vernacular medium schools of the district, which used to register zero pass percentage, have also been able to break the jinx.
Izaj Ahmed, a student of Rainbow School of Hatsinghimari under South Salmara-Mancachar subdivision of Dhubri, secured eighth position. “Hard work always pays,” is Ahmed’s motto.
Students of the Axam Jatiya Vidyalaya in Guwahati performed well as usual, with six students finding a place on the merit list.
Jyotirmoy Rajbongshi of the school clinched the second position and attributed his success to his parents and teachers.
He wants to be a space scientist, as he has always been attracted to the vastness of the sky.
Rector R.N. Deka said all the credit should be attributed to efforts put in by teachers.
St Mary’s English High School, Guwahati, with a pass percentage of 100, had six students on the merit list.
In the Assam High Madrassa Examination 2009 conducted by SEBA, 3,903 of 5,498 students who appeared in the exam passed. The pass percentage, however, is 70.98 — a decline from the 72.34 per cent of last year.