In a first, board releases 2 lists of toppers

Akash Ghai

Tribune News Service

Mohali, May 26

Under a new experiment, the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) has prepared two provisional merit lists this year — one is based purely on academics and the other is for sportspersons.

Nitasha Aggarwal of Tapa (Barnala) is the state’s topper in the merit list (academics) of the Punjab School Education Board’s Class X examinations, the results of which were declared this morning. In the merit list (sportspersons), national-level kabaddi player Namreet Kaur, of Zira (Ferozepore) clinched the top spot. “Though Namreet Kaur has got more marks than Nitasha Aggarwal, we will consider the latter as the state topper. The reason is that Namreet, being a sportsperson, has got 25 grace marks under the sports quota while Nitasha's marks were purely based on her performance in the academic,” said Tajinder Kaur Dhaliwal, chairperson, Punjab School Education Board.

The concept of two lists led to confusion as technically first three positions went to the candidates of merit list for sportspersons as they got more marks than their counterparts in the merit list (academic candidates).

Dhaliwal said preparing separate lists was a demand of several students and parents. “Many students and parents had a grudge that sportspersons used to get more marks with the help of grace marks under the sports quota. Therefore, this year we decided to go ahead with two merit lists,” she said.

She said a total of 3,53,327 students had appeared in the examinations as regular students. “Of the total number, as many as 2,42,406 students have cleared the exams, the pass percentage being 68.61 per cent. In the open school category, the result is very poor with the total pass percentage of 26.85,” said Dhaliwal. A total of 35,028 students have got 80 per cent or above marks this year.

The result will be uploaded on the board’s website www.pseb.ac.in by 1 pm tomorrow. The Ludhiana district topped the state with 92 students as merit-holders.

Cash prize for toppers in both lists

Tajinder Kaur Dhaliwal, chairperson, Punjab School Education Board, said cash awards would be given to the top three position-holders in both the lists. “We will give cash awards of Rs 1 lakh each to toppers in both the lists. Similarly, other prizes will also be given accordingly,” she said. The board used to give Rs 75,000 and Rs 50,000 to second and third postion-holders, respectively.

Girls capture top positions

With top five positions in the provisional merit list (academics) and four out of the top five positions in the merit list of sportspersons in their kitty, girls again outshone boys in the results. Even in the total pass percentage list, girls led boys by a margin of 12.89 per cent. The total pass percentage of girls is 73.08 in comparison to 60.19 per cent of boys. Girls are ahead of boys in both rural and urban groups. In urban belt, the total pass percentage of girls is 73.80 in comparison to 60.38 of boys. In the rural area, the pass percentage of girls is 72.69 in comparison to 60.09 of boys. 

Most meritorious students from Ludhiana

Ludhiana topped the district-wise list of maximum number of meritorious students with 92 candidates. The second spot has been grabbed by Sangrur  (51 students), followed by Patiala  (35 students).

Pass percentage down from last year 

This year the pass percentage witnessed a dip of 2.39 compared to that of the last year. Last year, 71 per cent of the total students passed while this year 68.61 per cent of the students passed the examinations. 

Urban, rural students neck and neck

The difference of .8 per cent in the performance of urban students and rural candidates showed that rural schools are not lagging far behind from their urban counterparts now. If the total pass percentage of urban students is 66.29, that of rural candidates is 65.49.

Maluka's block shines in PSEB results

Bathinda: Students from schools in Rampura Phul, the halqa of state minister Sikander Singh Maluka, who was earlier the Education Minister, performed better than students of the rest of Bathinda district in the PSEB Class X examinations. Toppers in the district, in both academic and sports merit lists, belong to Rampura Phul. Out of the 25 students from Bathinda district who made it to the merit list released by the PSEB, 20 belong to schools in Rampura Phul, while two belong to Bathinda, two to Maur Mandi and one to Bhucho. Shivani Garg, a student of Lala Kasturi Lal Sarvahitkari Senior Secondary School in Rampura Phul secured the 12th rank in the state and first rank in Bathinda district by securing 97.69 per cent marks. Parvin Kaur of Bharatiya model Senior Secondary School in Rampura Phul secured the 13th position in the state and stood second in the district with 97.54 per cent marks. Kashish Garg, also from Bharatiya Model Senior Secondary School, stood 15th in the state and third in the district with 97.23 per cent marks.