Cuttack, April 27: A non-government school for the deaf and dumb in the district has achieved a remarkable feat by recording a pass percentage of 100 in the 2016 matriculation examination.

Despite their disability, 18 boys and 11 girls of Sri Sri Beleswar High School for the deaf at Bentkar passed the examination in B1 and B2 grade (60 per cent and above marks). It is for the third consecutive year that the students from this school have registered a pass percentage of 100.

"It is the 6th batch of students from our school that is run with donations for the past nine years," said founder Saroj Kumar Choudhry. Students with special ability are provided free education at the residential school from Class VI to X. The school has nine trained teachers who teach through sign language.

"It is due to their persistent efforts that the students from the school are doing exceedingly well," said local resident Sridhar Parida.

"The students can be imparted better education and facilities once the school gets recognition from the state government," Choudhry said.

On the other hand, 715 schools in the state have also registered 100 per cent results in the matriculation examination, the results of which were announced by the Board of Secondary Education, Odisha today.

Help in need

The board has set up a dedicated helpline to address the grievances of students. Two professional counsellors are available at the helpline to guide the students, who have done badly in the examination. Two women counsellors from the Odisha Primary Education Programme Authority will counsel how to overcome stress.

"The students often become stressed due to high expectations from the parents. We are trying to guide the students not to panic and advise them to have patience for making things change in their favour," said counsellor Rakhi Kar.

Official sources said the helpline received over 200 calls by students and their parents. Of those, nearly 40 per cent of the callers were depressed over their marks awarded to them while the remaining calls were regarding queries for the timing and start of the re-addition process by the board.

Board president D.P. Nanda said students could call up helpline numbers - 0671-2412060 and 0671-2412059 - for any result-related information between 10am to 5pm. The control room will remain open till May 3.

Actors such as Mihir Das and Akash Das Nayak appealed to students through the electronic medium to students who have done badly not to lose their hearts. "Poor performance in an examination is not the end of one's life. It is the duty of the parents to keep encouraging their children," said Das.

"The board should also engage counsellors before the examination as many students succumb to pressure during the preparations," said Rakesh Mohanty, a guardian.

KISS excels

Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) has posted a pass percentage of 95 in the board examination. As many as 1,300 students from the school had taken the examination.

Expressing satisfaction over the result, KISS founder A. Samanta said continued success of KISS students had been possible only due to blessings of God, continuous effort of teachers, staff members and hard labour of the students.