Maharashtra sees dip in Class-XII success rate, Mumbai's performance disappoints
What's the story
At a time when the country is reveling in the high success rate of students in this year's class X and XII exams, Maharashtra has received a setback.
This year, the state has recorded a marginal dip in the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) exam pass percentage, from last year's 87.15%, to 85.9%.
Among its nine divisions, Mumbai ended up 8th, leaving just Nashik behind.
Details
Mumbai division saw declined success rate, Konkan came first
In the Mumbai division (comprising Mumbai, Thane, Raigad and Palghar), 84.5% have cleared the exam, compared to last year's 85.3%.
So even with its own performance kept as standard, Mumbai has not fared satisfactorily this year.
The smallest of all divisions, Konkan, has grabbed the top spot with a 93.9% success rate.
However, state board officials said not all is lost.
Reasons
'3L appeared for HSC in Mumbai compared to Konkan's 33K'
"Three lakh students appear for the exam from Mumbai while in Konkan division, it's just about 33,000. That explains the difference," said Subhash Borse of Maharashtra State Board.
Moreover, a whopping 27,000 students appeared privately, having attended no formal classes, which also contributed to the lower success rate.
Dyaneshwar Doke, head, ML Dahanukar College, reasoned Mumbai's mixed bunch of students is another primary factor.
Reality
Mixed bunch indeed: Candidates from slum areas, repeaters, part-time students
Doke further said there are many who work during day and attend classes in night, as there are a number of candidates from the slums.
"The number of repeaters needs to be considered too," he added.
However, Mumbai definitely has a reason to cheer as it has a lion's share of the number of students who have scored above 90% this year.
Good news
Mumbai has lion's share of students scoring above 90%
Last year, 3,819 students scored above 90% across Maharashtra, but this year, it has risen up by 43% and stands at 5,486.
Out of that, 41% came from Mumbai, with 2,288 students achieving the impressive score.
Though this is a good development, it may also mean that the cutoffs in college admissions may be kept at a higher level this year.
Information
Unsurprisingly, girls have outperformed boys, Science stream scored maximum
Unsurprisingly, girls have outperformed boys by a big margin. 90.2% girls as compared to 82.1% boys have cleared the exam state-wide. In Mumbai, 88.9% girls passed the exam as compared to 80.6% of boys. Among the streams, Science recorded the highest success rate at 96.9%.