Mohali, June 9
Girls outshone boys in the matriculation examination of the Punjab School Education Board, the results of which were declared here this afternoon. Heena of Adarsh Bal Vidyalya Senior Secondary School, Nawanshahr, topped the examination securing 605 marks out of 650.

The second position was shared by Nandan of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Senior Secondary School, Patti (Amritsar), and Tushti of D C Model Senior Secondary School, Ferozepore Cantt, both getting 604 marks, each. Mehak Singla of Navyug Shishu Mandir High School, Moga, finished third with 602 marks.

Prof Harbans Singh Sidhu, chairman of the board, said the first five positions had been bagged by girls. He said that the matriculation result of the Punjab board was higher by about half a per cent as compared to the Haryana board.

Addressing a Press conference, the chairman said the overall pass percentage was higher by about 1 per cent this year as compared to last year. He said this year 375577 students had appeared in the examination out of which 216581 cleared, putting the pass percentage at 57.67.

The pass percentage of regular candidates in subjects like Punjabi, Hindi, science had gone down when compared to last year. The maximum fall was in the case of science where the pass percentage had fallen from 77.88 to 73.52. The performance in mathematics was not satisfactory with only 43.34 students clearing the examination.

Students who had appeared in the examination as private candidates had performed better as compared to last year in almost all subjects. There was a marked improvement in English with the pass percentage rising from last year’s figure of 54.54 to 62.70 this year. However, in mathematics the pass percentage was only 28.55.

The result gazette will be available to the public in the board’s text book sales depots at the district and tehsil headquarters on June 10 at 4 p.m. The principals or their representatives could collect the result on June 11 at 10 a.m. from the text books depots concerned. Detailed result will be available from midnight on June 10 on www.indiaresult.com, www.ilfsets.com,www.amarujala.com and result.jagran.com websites.

The following are the names of the students who have secured the top 10 positions in the merit list: Neeraj Khullar, GGSSTP Model School, Power Colony, Roopnagar (4) ; Latika Bansal, Shiv Devi Girls High School, Jalandhar city (4); Isha, Mata Gujri Publc School, Kartarpur, Jalandhar, (5); Sonia Goyal, Sarvhitkari Senior Secondary Vidya Mandir, Barnala, (5); Vandana, Vidya Mandir Public Senior Secondary School, Pathankot, (5); Navjeet Kaur, Shri Sawan Mal Aggarwal Senior Secondary School, Zira, (5); Samanpreet Kaur, Chopra Public Senior Secondary School, Macchiwara, Ludhiana, (6); Sahil Garg, Sarvhitkari Senior Secondary Vidya Mandir, Barnala, (6); Monika Garg, DAV Public Senior Secondary School, Kakrala, Patiala, (7); Harpreet Singh, Dashmesh Public School, Mansa, (7); Ravneesh Kaur, Shri Guru Harkrishan Public School, Burj Marhana, Amritsar, (8) ; Jyoti Sharma, C M Public Senior Secondary School, Rajpura town, (8); Miyank Taneja, SAV Jain Dayboarding School, Hoshiarpur, ( 8 ) ; Mani Mehta, New Saint Soldier Senior Secondary Public School, Jalandhar, (8); Sameer Vashisht, SD Sarvhitkari Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School, Talwara, Hoshiarpur, (9); Priya Rani, Government Senior Secondary School, Bhikhiwind, Amritsar, (9); Neha Narang, Navyug Shishu Mandir High School, Moga, (9); Geetika Gupta, Navyug Shishu Mandir High School, Moga, (10) ; Rajni Verma, Guru Nanak Senior Secondary School, Janta Nagar, Ludhiana, (10); Payal Luthra, Shri Mahavir Jain Model Senior Secondary School, Phagwara, (10); Komalpreet Kaur Sandhu, Adarsh Bal Vidyalya Senior Secondary School, Nawan Shahr, (10); Mohit Dhir, Shri Mahavir Jain Model Senior Secondary School, Phagwara, (10).