Mumbai: The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE), on Friday, reported a pass percent of 96.36% across the state for the class 10 Secondary School Certificate (SSC) 2021-22 exam, with the Mumbai division recording a pass percentage of 96.12%.
Comprising fresh and repeat candidates, a total of 3.7 lakh students from the city appeared in the exams this year, and 16.21 lakh from Maharashtra.
This is lower than the pass percentages recorded for the academic year 2020-2021 (99.95% in Maharashtra and 99.96% in Mumbai), but parents and teachers both said this was expected as no board exams were held last year, and students were instead graded on previous year’s performance.
Though girls and boys performed at the same level last year, bucking the usual trend, results released on Friday show that female students outperformed their male counterparts, recording a pass percentage of 97.52%, while boys who appeared for the exam passed, recorded 95.38%.
Across the state, 83,060 students scored 90% and above, while in Mumbai, 10,764 students scored the same – 90% and above. In all, 122 students scored 100%, including one student from the Mumbai division. The SSC assessment takes into account the student’s best five performances across six exam papers. Students this year also gave their exams in their own schools, and not a different exam centre, which reportedly led to an increase in instances of cheating during the exams. Notably, the number of high-scorers in the city this year has reduced, as compared to 2020, when board exams were last held. At the time, 14,756 students scored 90% or above.
Ophelia Barretto, principal, Podar International School, said, “Considering the conditions under which students and teachers have approached the exams this year, we are happy about the results. Even more challenging than the academic instruction was the job of alleviating students’ fears, as they were giving a board exam for the first time with little to no offline schooling over the past two years. On the whole, they have done impressively.”
MSBSHSE chairman Sharad Gosavi on Friday said that this is one of the best performances of SSC students in the state. “All nine divisions have performed exceptionally, which has resulted in the overall pass percentage of over 96%,” he said.
Parents, too, expressed a mix of pride and relief after the results were announced. Tushar Pinjarkar, a parent to a daughter studying at a school in the city, said. “I feel proud today. My daughter has scored 92% after studying almost 15 to 16 hours a day. She was not able to absorb much in online teaching, and had to work extra hard in the 45 days that she had to prepare for the exam.”