Balurghat, June 16: The tradition of producing toppers, three-years in the making, was broken this time.

The mood was sombre in the Balurghat teachers’ circle today. Parash Pramanik of Patiram High School might have scored 774 marks to become the topper in the district. But that, teachers said, was not enough to make him feature in the merit list.

“We are banking on the higher secondary results to salvage some pride. Hopefully we will have a student who will rank among the first ten in the state,” a teacher said.

Balurghat has been on a winning streak since 2000, with students featuring in the top 10 every year.

Protima Mitra of Balurghat Girls’ High School stood fourth overall and first among girls in the 2000 Madhyamik exams.

Amitabha Pal of Balurghat High School stood first in the state and Debjit Mazumder, a student of N.C. High School ranked ninth in the Madhyamik exams in 2001.

In 2002, Ishita Sarkar of Balurghat Girls’ High School ranked fifth overall, while Protima Mitra ranked overall first in the state in the higher secondary exams.

“The results are good this year too,” said Balurghat High School headmaster Haripada Saha. “But I think students should be made to understand that attending school is better than staying at home and preparing for the exams, especially during the final stages.”

“Human errors can also make the difference in a boy’s performance that is reflected in the marksheet. That is why it is not always right to judge a student’s capabilities on the basis of his performance in the exams alone,” he added. “But then, there is no denying the fact that it takes a lot of talent to make it in the top 10. Maybe, this year, the students did not have the drive to excel.”