Class XII examination in 2017

two-thirds of 12.40 lakh students flunking

Ruby Rai, of Vishun Roy Inter College

Lalkeshwar Prasad Singh

PATNA: A year after the Class XII topper scam rocked the state and prompted the Bihar School Examination Board ( BSEB ) to take strong measures against cheating during exams, a mere 35.25% students passed their, with nearly. The pass percentage in 2016 was 67.66%.Stringent steps were taken this year after BSEB’s Class XII results in 2016 were marred by allegations of brazen favouritism to help undeserving students top the exam. The scam came to light after a topper,in Vaishali gave absurd answers to simple questions from her syllabus in TV interviews.An FIR was later lodged and several BSEB functionaries, including then chairman, were jailed, along with certain college officials and students. The results of the “toppers” were also cancelled. While Ruby Rai is out on bail, Lalkeshwar and four others are still behind bars.BSEB chairman Anand Kishor said the pass percentage went down by a staggering 32%, and despite moderation, apparently because of the introduction of barcoding in answer sheets and strict invigilation.“Students who’ve failed should not think this is the end of their lives. Those eligible for compartmental exam will get another chance to improve their scores. Hard work should be their mantra as there is no shortcut to success,” Kishor said.The overall pass percentage of boys was 55.53% against 44.47% of girls in science, commerce and arts streams. According to BSEB sources, 8.34% students passed with a first division, 23.65% with a second division and 3.26% with a third division. The first-divisioners include 4.77% boys and 3.57% girls.Khushboo Kumari of Simultala Awasiya Vidyalaya-Jamui topped the science stream with 86.2% while Gulshan Kumar of RKMGG College-Samastipur and Kunal Kumar of S S College-Begusarai ranked second with 85.8% each. Priyanshu Nandan of R K Dwarika College-Patna finished third, scoring 85.4%.In the science stream, the pass percentage of boys was 68.85% while it was 31.15% in case of girls.College of Commerce, Arts and Science-Patna student Priyanshu Jaiswal’s 81.6% was the highest score in commerce whereas Pallavi Sinha and Soni Kumari of Gaya College obtained 81.4% to share the second rank in the stream. Yamini of Government Women’s College-Gulzarbagh (Patna) stood third with 80.4%.The pass percentage of boys was 67.38% and that of girls 32.62% in commerce.While boys outperformed girls in science and commerce, girls outshone boys in arts, recording a pass percentage of 61.92%. Only 38.08% boys could pass the BSEB’s Class XII examination in the stream.Ganesh Kumar of RNSJN Vidyalaya-Samastipur stood first with 82.6% while Neha Kumari of LNGRS Girls’ High School-Madhubani and Jagriti Sharma of MRJDI College- Begusarai ranked second and third, with 81.4% and 81%, respectively.