Bull’s-eye, almost

The Class XII results declared by the CBSE on Thursday saw the highest percentages shooting through the roof, with two toppers scoring nearly full marks in the humanities stream — an astonishing 499 on 500; and an all-India joint second ranking with 498! All girls. For years now, girls have consistently defended their place in the sun. This year, too, they performed better than boys by 9 per cent. The pass percentage of girls is 88.70 per cent as against 79.4 per cent of boys. Of 13 lakh students who appeared in the board examination, 18 have scored 497 to claim the third pride of place. 

Nowadays, 98-99 per cent marks are common in all streams. With these marks, the toppers will cut the queue to pursue a course of their choice. Some wish to study an honours course, while others have set their sights on civil services or higher studies abroad. But numbers are not always markers of success. This is just one battle won. The still bigger ones are entrance examinations for various colleges, or for professional courses like law, medicine and engineering. The constant pressure to keep up, either from parents or students themselves, does carry a real threat of a burnout. 

There is another concern. While the incredible scores are inspiring and, indubitably, a consequence of immense hard work, they establish an unrealistic bar. Cut-offs across colleges will shoot up disproportionately. Full marks in languages and subjects like history were unheard of until not so long ago. A topper regretted losing one mark in English! The above-average student doesn’t stand a fair chance in this high-stakes ruthless competition. Those out of the race should not be dejected, for success is the sum total of life, with all its facets. Albeit crucial, academics is only one part. A large number of global achievers were not toppers. Since the super-bright are a fraction of the total number, the education system, on its part, needs to figure out if the inflated marks are a real indicator of its own score.