Nagpur:

PRESUMPTIVE HSC TOPPERS

PRESUMPTIVE SSC TOPPERS

OUR TAKE

School or tuitions: Who should get credit for producing board toppers?

Shivani Yawlikar, student

Nazera Patel, principal,

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Divita Dutta, student

Madhusudan Mude, principal, Major Hemant Jakate School

Dr Vaibhav Mahajan, parent of 2016 HSC state topper

Pravin Bhatia, educationist

Himanshu Fulwani, student

Dr Manisha Shembekar, parent

Swaima Ahmad, student

Sanjay Soni, parent

(Interviews by

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Recently, when city girl Rajvi Ambulkar’s SSC paper revaluation propelled her to the top position in state, she reaffirmed Nagpur’s, and overall Vidarbha’s, emergence as the Mecca of state board exam toppers.Lost in the annual media frenzy about SSC and HSC results is the story about Vidarbha consistently producing toppers for the last couple of years. Since 2011, four state HSC toppers have come from Nagpur and one from Chandrapur . For SSC too, since 2014, the state topper has come from Nagpur and Akola . (See table)Since the state education board does not declare toppers officially, these rankings are based on information received from schools. So, it’s always likely that someone with a higher percentage exists in some part of state. Regardless of the specific names of toppers, there’s no denying that Vidarbha students have held the pole position. While no one really knows exactly why this is happening, some academicians believe a couple of reasons may have contributed.Rachna Singh, senior academician and principal of St Ursula Girls School, said, “The textbooks are being prepared by panels that have a lot of people from Vidarbha and they have given quality inputs. The style of content in textbooks reflect that. Also, coordination between education department and schools has increased a lot, with a lot of teacher training sessions, which helps teach students in a better way.”Ambulkar, the new state SSC topper after revaluation, feels living in a non-metro city helps a lot. “There are fewer distractions compared to Mumbai and Pune. We don’t waste time in travelling and yet get access to quality education.”Coincidentally, the student whom Ambulkar beat for the top score also happened to be a Nagpurian.Anurag Pandey , principal of Suyash Convent said, “Keeping in mind that we officially we do not know whether the toppers are from Vidarbha, I would say that media exposure has now ensured that our kids are not living in a shell anymore. The connected world, also due to Internet, has made them aware of the competition that lies ahead, and that’s egging them to do better.”Apart from schools and students’ efforts, there’s also the angle of marking policy coming into play.Prakash Somalwar, trustee of Somalwar group of schools, which have been consistently producing toppers and high scorers for decades, feels that policy changes have a major role to play.“Nowadays, internal marks are being doled out in many schools to bump up the scores and there’s no way to keep a check on that. The board changed the rules about five or six years ago, due to which external examinees for practicals stopped coming and, hence, schools have complete control over these marks,” said Somalwar. This liberal marking policy is not only resulting in high scores but also “making it difficult to fail,” he said.Sunita Roy, former principal of Dinanath School and Junior College, agreed with Somalwar. “In schools, internal marks are definitely playing a major role and junior colleges students do get extra help from coaching classes they attend.”2016 | Rashi Mahajan (97.85)2015 | Yash Chandak (98.77)2014 | Anurag Bharadwaj (98)2013 | Details not available2012 | Saylee Pathak (97.67)2011 | Snehal Kose (98.16, Brahmapuri, Chandrapur)2016 | Rajvi Ambulkar (99)2015 | Yashpal Pakal & Dhananjay Sahastrabuddhe (99.4, Akola)2014 | Avani Khodkumble (99.2, Akola)(All students are from Science stream from Nagpur city, unless mentioned otherwise Figures in %)Coaching or tuition classes should get the credit as they have better teaching techniques, which help students crack exams. This cannot be achieved by simply attending school, as competition is constantly rising. School is good for students who have decided not to appear for competitive exams but pursue some other course.As the main preparation is done with schoolteachers, schools should be credited. We do not allow students to join coaching classes, but provide free extra classes ourselves. Such classes should be held during holidays like Diwali and summer too, so students are well prepared for exams and do not feel the need to approach coaching classes.Schools make basic concepts clear while coaching classes provide practice. Schools have compulsory classes, and if one attends all of them, there is no need for coaching classes. Everything is taught in detail in school, and if one completes all assignments and homeworks, there is no need to mentally exhaust yourself by joining extra tuitions.All efforts are taken by schools to shape a student’s academic life and produce toppers. Students and schoolteachers spend the entire day in school. Though parents feel that kids do better after attending coaching classes, it is not true. All that can be done is to change this mentality and make them realize that schools are equally effective and sufficient.Schools and coaching classes are there to guide students. It does not matter what a student chooses, because it is self study that helps to be a topper. They score on their dedication. One cannot say teachers at school or tuition put in extra efforts for a particular student, because they the entire class without bias towards any particular student.Both coaching classes and schools provide the necessary opportunity for students to acquire knowledge and prepare them for IIT, UPSC, IAS, medical and other exams. Because it’s all about learning. Joining coaching classes has just become a fad. Schools are supposed to be adequate, but if joining coaching classes creates excellence, students should not hesitate to upgrade their mind.Topper students should themselves be credited for all the hard work they put in to score well and top exams. However, students generally do not pay attention in schools and attend just for fun. Thus, it is necessary to join coaching classes as they teach more effectively and students seriously pay attention to their tutors in coaching classes.Education overall is better in schools, as they concentrate on students individually, unlike coaching classes, who teach students in masses. Ideally, it depends on the teacher and the way they engage the students and helps them concentrate properly. If the students completely follow the teaching at school, they would get more time to study by themselves.I believe schools should get the credit for producing toppers. They provide a foundation for students to discover their potential, hone skills and prove their mettle. They bring about holistic development resulting in academic success. However, coaching classes give supplementary education, and this culture promotes a rat race among students.The credit for producing toppers must go to schools. The past generation did not join any tuition classes and did remarkably well. However, some students do not pay attention in school and join coaching classes without finding out teachers in school teach. They do not realize that coaching classes are unprofessional and admit students of top grades only, and do not provide any personal attention.