The trailblazers

Once again girls outperformed boys in the Indian School Certificate Examinations this year.

Once again girls outperformed boys in the Indian School Certificate Examinations (ISCE) this year. With the results announced on Tuesday,the overall pass per centage of girls are higher than that of boys. Gerry Arathoon,additional secretary and officiating chief executive of Council for the Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE),said,Girls have registered a 99.98 per cent success rate as against the 99.89 pass percentage recorded by boys in the ICSE exam. In the ISC results,girls recorded a 99.36 pass percentage against 98.71 per cent registered by boys.

City topper Aishwarya Bafna from St Mary’s School,with 98 per cent marks in the examination,feels that the studies last two weeks before the examination helped a lot. “I studied for just about four to five hours throughout the year,but towards the end it was more of studies all day. Teachers from schools really helped me prepare,but neither they nor my parents pressurised me in any way. As I love watching movies,even during the month long preparatory break before the examinations,my father took me to the theatre for Black Swan and The King’s Speech .” Bafna wants to take up Commerce at St Mary’s Junior College.

For Mansi Wadekar,who scored 93 per cent in the ICSE examination (Std X),the highest in Vidya Valley School,the dream of getting into Fergusson College was what propelled her to put in her best in her studies. “I did not have fixed number fo hours for studies. I arranged my routine around my favourite TV shows so that I get three one hour breaks,which would also be my meal time. So I religiously followed Dexter even weeks before my examinations,as I cannot focus if I get very stressed,” said Mansi. She plans to take up Economics at Fergusson College,followed by an MA in International Relations either at at John Hopkins Univeristy or at Harvard.

Pranav Ambardekar,who scored 94 per cent in the ICSE (Std X),the highest in Vidya Pratishthans Magarpatta City Public School,said,”Being the first batch of the school all our teachers were able to give us individual attention,as we were only 17 students appearing for the examination. Unlike many of my friends,I believe in self-study,with some help from teachers whenever I get stuck with something. So I did not go for any tuitions. I’m a complete football freak and I lead the school team. But I make sure that I’m able to strike a balance between play and work.”

Not losing confidence during the examination was the success mantra of Aditya Uday Sant of St Mary’s Junior College. With 93.6 per cent,he stands the city topper for the ISC (Std XII) examination. “Even if I’m doubtful about a question,I believe in not loosing my cool and trying to deal with the problem at hand. Regular revision of whatever was taught in school and preparation for the engineering entrance examinations helped me a lot in my studies. When I’m not studying,I like to go for a swim,or play football or just hang out with friends,” said Aditya. As he plans to take to take up engineering,he is now waiting for the entrance examination results.

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