Girls outshone boys in the CBSE Class 12 results declared on Sunday, bagging the top two spots and recording a better pass percentage compared with boys.Raksha Gopal from Delhi's neighbourhood Noida in Uttar Pradesh topped the Class 12 Central Board of Secondary Education exams, followed by Bhoomi Sawant De from Chandigarh.Raksha from Amity International School in Noida secured 99.6 per cent marks, and Bhoomi from DAV School in Chandigarh scored 99.4 per cent marks, the CBSE said.Aditya Jain and Mannat Luthra, both from Bhavan Vidyalaya in Chandigarh, came joint third with 99.2 per cent marks.According to CBSE, a total of 87.5 per cent girls passed the exams compared with 78 per cent boys.A total of 10,76,761 students registered for the Class 12 examinations but only 10,20,762 appeared at 3,504 centres across the country between March 9 and April 29. The pass percentage this year recorded a marginal drop to 82 per cent from 83.05 per cent last year. Only 8,37,229 students managed to pass this year, the board said.
The CBSE announced the results of all its 10 regions simultaneously -- including the highest 2,58,321 students from Delhi region, followed by Panchkula in Haryana with 1,84,557 and Ajmer in Rajasthan with 1,31,449 candidates. The board said 10,091 students scored more than 95 per cent marks, and 63,247 more than 90 per cent this year.A total of 2,497 candidates with various disabilities also sat for the exams this year, of which 2,123 students passed. Ajay K. Raj from St. Thomas Central School in Thiruvananthapuram topped in the differently abled category with 490 marks out of a maximum of 500 marks. The board said 125 differently able candidates scored above 90 per cent, with 21 scoring above 95 per cent marks.Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar congratulated all successful students after the results were declared. "Congratulations to all my young friends who have successfully passed the CBSE Class XII exams and best wishes for future endeavours," Modi said in a tweet.
Beside congratulating the students, Javadekar also talked to toppers over phone."I want to congratulate all the students who scored well... success gives you strength and confidence. Also congrats to students of all boards," Javadekar said in a video message to students.The Minister advised students who could not perform well that "the defeat is not final unless we keep trying". "Therefore, you should try more and you will get definite success," he said."I called up first four toppers Raksha Gopal, Bhumi Sawant De, Mannat Luthra and Aditya Jain," he said.He said he was happy that toppers came from arts, science and commerce streams, and added that one topper aspires to become an economist, another an IAS officer while two others aim to pursue engineering and political science.He said the credit for their success goes to their hard work, dedication, parents and teachers.The results this year were delayed as the CBSE had proposed to scrap the moderation policy on April 25.However, Delhi High court shot down the proposal, saying the rules cannot be changed at the eleventh hour.The Class 12 results can be accessed on Central Board of Secondary Education website cbseresults.nic.in.