‘CBSE students could have an edge’

The CBSE results for Class 10 declared online on Saturday has seen a slight dip in pass percentage over last year. The overall pass percentage is 96.21 this year compared to 97.32 which was the pass percentage of 2015.

The results have seen some 1.38 lakh students score a 10 in the Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA). According to experts, the CGPA, which is the conversion of marks into grades implies that a large number of students scored above 90 per cent marks. In such a situation, the FYJC online admissions will see seats in prestigious colleges being grabbed by CBSE students, making it difficult for state board students.

According to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) statement, the number of students appearing for the class 10 exams that were held from March 1 to 28 at 3,742 exam centres this year has gone up by 8.5 per cent and the girls had a marginally better showing than the boys. The total number of students who appeared for the exams nationwide was 14,89,021 which included 8,51,691 boys and 5,80,170 girls. The pass percentage of boys was 96.11 while that of the girls was 96.36 per cent.

Among the regions Thiruvananthpuram had the highest pass percentage at 99.87 per cent followed by the Chennai region which secured 99.38 per cent. Maharashtra is part of Chennai region. Pachkulaq region brought up the third spot with a pass percentage of 98.04.

Since the past few years the board has stopped announcing the percentage and instead converts the percentage into CGPA. The board announced that out of the total students who appeared 1.38 lakh secured a 10.0 CGPA, which implies that nearly 10 per cent students scored above 95 per cent marks. This according to experts will set off a race for seats in prestigious colleges and could result in state board students losing out. “The normalisation of marks will translate the 10.0 CGPA into high percentages and CBSE students participating in the FYJC online admissions will have the choice of colleges. Though this is an existing trend, state board students will find it difficult to compete for seats as the number of students appearing for the CBSE board exams in Mumbai has gone up,” said J.M. Abhyankar, former chairman of the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education.