Students check Madhyamik results at a school in Siliguri on Friday. Picture by Kundan Yolmo

Calcutta, May 27: The Madhyamik merit list made a comeback today, naming eight students with the best grades in this year’s test in violation of a policy decision taken years ago to spare schoolchildren the stress of trying to become toppers.

The eight students in the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education’s 2011 merit list have been graded “AA” in all seven subjects — the rating represents a score between 90 and 100 per cent — but don’t necessarily have higher aggregates than the rest.

Board officials used that argument to justify naming the eight students, saying they were being recognised as the most consistent performers across subjects rather than as the “Top 8 of 2011”. But the board failed to explain how that was different from naming the top eight students in terms of total marks.

The board’s decision to resume showcasing individual achievement masked a 1.22 per cent drop in the overall success rate from last year’s result. “Yes, there’s been a marginal decline. But an 80.57 per cent success rate isn’t bad,” a an official said.

The system of announcing Madhyamik and Higher Secondary toppers had been officially abolished in 2005 in tune with a central policy that was announced the previous year to make school examinations student-friendly and stress-free.

“Announcing names, irrespective of whether they are the ones who have performed most consistently or scored the highest, goes against the spirit of the unanimous decision taken by the education ministers of all states in 2004 that there should be no merit list for Class X and XII exams. The objective of the new set of reforms in school education has also been defeated with the return of the toppers’ list,” a government official said.

Board president Anjan Sengupta said the decision to declare the names of the eight students graded AA in all seven subjects was cleared by school education minister Rabindranath Bhattacharya. “In any case, we haven’t violated the central policy of not disclosing marks or ranking students as first, second and third. We could have been accused of deviating from policy had we announced a toppers’ list in the conventional sense.”

What the board didn’t do, Mamata Banerjee did. The chief minister called up Mrinmoy Pal of Bankura, who has scored 760 out of 800, to congratulate him for being this year’s unofficial Madhyamik topper. Mrinmoy didn’t make it to the board’s list because he hasn’t got “AA” in all subjects.

Although the system of naming toppers was abolished under Left Front rule, the school education department continued the practice of felicitating the top performers in Madhyamik and Higher Secondary. “There have been complaints about students being picked for such functions on the basis of political recommendations,” a teacher said.

The Telegraph has been highlighting stories of academic success in the face of adversity rather than the achievements of those with the highest marks or grades (see graphic).

Examinee dead

Three Madhyamik examinees from Cooch Behar allegedly consumed poison after they learnt they had failed in the board examinations. While one student died, two others have been hospitalised.

Police sources said Shefali Khatun, 16, a student of Ichchamoyee High School died after consuming poison at her house. The other two are under treatment at the Mathabhanga subdivisional hospital.