The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) declared its results on Saturday and while several schools in Mumbai saw cent per cent results, none of the city's students feature among the top nine rankers in the country.
Chennai region, of which Maharashtra is a part, has done better than last year, with a pass percentage of 93.87, up from 92.64 in 2017.
Among the city's toppers is Arpit Singh, a Science student from Delhi Public School in Nerul. He scored 98.6%. "My success mantra is NCERT books and regular studies. Practising test papers of previous years helped me a lot. Now I wish to go for either electrical engineering or computer science engineering for which I have already given my JEE advance test."
Yashna Kumar, a Humanities student from the same school who had to appear for the Economics retest after the paper got leaked, got 96.8%.
"I was shaken by the re-examination announcement, but I managed to score 98 in the subject. I wish to go for BA in Economics,"
She added, "Yoga and playing guitar helped me to be stress -free during exams.."
Harneet Singh, a Commerce topper from RN Podar School in Santacruz, got 98%. "My extra-curricular activities like classical tabla helped me in building concentration and paying attention during lectures. That helped me score well. I have decided to go for BSc in Economic or Finance, for which I have given the entrance exams."
Of the Board's 10 regions in the country, Chennai has stood sixth. A major indicator of Mumbai region's performance is the 65 Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs), which have secured an average pass percentage of 98.25 this year.
Aruna Bhalla, Deputy Commissioner, Kendriya Vidyalaya, Mumbai Region, said, "The result this year is the best in the last four years. In Mumbai region, 23 KV schools secured 100 per cent results in Mumbai region."
Laxmi Negi, principal of Kendriya Vidyalaya in Navy Nagar, said, "This year results are very good and our school's overall pass percentage is 94.28, from 74 last year."
Can and able
Arjun Singh from Gopi Birla Memorial School in Walkeshwar, who has mild autism, secured 73 per cent despite the odds. His mother, Kavita, said, "Arjun is very hardworking and he can sit for 8-10 hours to study. The school was very supportive and we never put any pressure on him. We are happy with his achievement. He is very good at Maths and is planning to opt for for Commerce or Engineering."
Arjun's schoolmate, Tvisha Sharma, from Humanities stream, secured 79% despite battling juvenile diabetes. "I am happy with my score. I used to make sure that I didn't study till late due to my health issue. I look after my health so that it does not gte in the way of my studies. I wish to pursue a career in hotel management."
TWINS GET NEAR-IDENTICAL SCORE
Twin brothers Akhil and Nikhil Namboodiri, both Science students from Apeejay School in Navi Mumbai, scored 94.5% and 95% respectively. The twins aced the examination with near-identical scores. They both preferred studying together and help each other in studies. Both also were part of school volley ball team in school. “We are happy with the scores that we have achieved. Since our likes and dislikes are almost the same, we both wish to go for Mechanical or Computer Science Engineering.”
