It’s a huge climbdown for Bengaluru Rural academic district, which was at the number one spot in the 2011 SSLC exam results with a pass percentage of 87.43 and at the number two slot in 2010, as it has this year slipped to 18th position with a pass percentage of 81.37.
On the other hand, Udupi which was in sixth position last year has topped the results with an 89.53 pass percentage. Sirsi which was fourth last year has climbed to second position with 88.31 per cent passes, Hassan district which was in ninth place has climbed to third position with 85.92 per cent passes and Tumkur which was in 19th place last year, has secured fourth place this year with a pass percentage of 85.84. Chikkodi which was in second place last year has slipped down to fifth position although its overall pass percentage has increased by five per cent.
Bengaluru is hardly in the picture where the toppers are concerned too as the state topper is from Dakshina Kannada this year. In fact it is a ‘double dhamaka,’ for the district as two students have done it proud. If Navya R.S. of Bantwal has topped the state SSLC results with 623 marks, Pallavi Rao of Hosabettu, and a student of Vidhyadayini English Medium School, Surathkal occupies second place with 621 marks. She, however shares the second rank with a student of Mysore, which too has reason to be proud despite being at 12th position as it has produced two rankers this year.
While Shreesha of SVEI High School, Belavadi secured second place, Nithin Gowda of the Government High School in Aththalli village of Tnarsipura taluk is in fourth place. The third rank is shared by a student of Bengaluru, S. Suhas, of Poornapragna School , and a student of Shimoga, Namrata of Sandipini High School.
For the city, Bengaluru South has been the saving grace as its students have improved their performance. Bengaluru North has slipped down the list. The number of schools with a zero pass percentage has, worryingly, increased from last year’s 44 to 47.
Education minister, Kageri warned the government would take serious action against those responsible for poor results. "In the last one year, the state government has come out with a number of new initiatives to improve the pass percentage in districts which were not doing well in the past . Although this year’s pass percentage has increased there is vast scope for improvement. I will discuss ways to achieve this,” he said, attributing the overall improvement in results to the introduction of SSA. “This is the second SSLC batch after the introduction of SSA. I hope enforcement of the Right To Education Act will further improve the SSLC pass percentage in years to come,” he added.