18% jump in pass-rate as Nagaland celebrates HSLC, HSSLC winners

EMN
DIMAPUR, MAY 3

The Nagaland Board of School Education (NBSE) has announced the results of High School Leaving Certificate (HSLC) and Higher Secondary School Leaving Certificate (HSSLC) examinations for the year 2016. The results were made available on the board’s website Tuesday noon.
As is the annual tradition in Nagaland, this year too, girls trumped the boys in every discipline–in both the HSLC and the HSSLC. According to an overview provided by the NBSE, 22, 970 students had appeared for the HSLC exam out of which 15027 managed to qualify.
From the 15, 027 qualified students, 7, 650 were said to be girls while the boys constituted the remaining 7, 377. “In the top-20 list, there are 45 candidates out of which 17 are boys and 28 are girls. The girls have done better again this time,” according to the NBSE report.
In a marked improvement, the number of schools that secured 100% qualified or pass percentage rose to 67 this year, which is an increase by 18 from last year’s figure. Out of the 67 schools, 62 were private-run schools.
Even in the HSSLC results, girls fared much better than boys. The pass percentage for this year was 77.42% for girls while the boys were some miles behind at 72.81%. The cumulative percentage includes students from Arts, Commerce and Science streams.
The gap was perhaps most stark in Arts stream with not even a single entry for boys in the Top 10. The respective girls-boys ratios in the Top 10 list were 7:5 and 9:3 for Commerce and Science streams.
“From this examination, the Board has introduced a new system in working out the rank and division of a successful candidate. The rank and division is decided on the basis of best of 5 (five) subjects which is subject to having passed the compulsory subjects. Looking back at the results of the last 5 (five) years or so, it can be said that the performance of students has not gone down. Its performance is consistent,” the NBSE stated.
Similar comparison in HSLC results over the past few years, however, paints a rather bleak picture for government-run schools. Out of a total 202 government schools in this year’s HSLC exam, 30 of them recorded a pass percentage of zero. In contrast, only one private-un school drew blank.
Last year the number of government-run schools with zero pass percentage was 37. However, the corresponding figures for 2013 and 2014 were 30 and 26 schools, respectively.
As was the case last year, Tuensang district has the highest representation with 7 government-run schools without a single qualified student. The trend continued in the second position too, with Longleng registering five schools against six the previous year. All the eleven districts have at least one government-run school without a single qualified student.

Meet the Powerclass Girls…and the fiesty Lone Ranger 

HSLC Topper
Madhu Kumari Giri

The excitement and commotion at Madhu Kumari Giri’s neighborhood is an environment that none would have missed on Tuesday afternoon. Madhu Kumari Giri, from SD Jain Higher Secondary School in Dimapur secured 96.83% to top the HSLC. She secured the state-highest mark in Science and Hindi, outshining thousands of students across Nagaland. At this time, excited neighbors proud of her achievement were flocking to her place to celebrate her success.
Every success story has its fair share of stories of hard work. Giri’s dedication of 7-8 hours a day during the examinations placed her at the top. With a dream to becoming a doctor, she hopes to join a medical college. Giri also said that the encouragement from her parents and teachers played a central role in her achievement. Under pressure, one cannot focus on goals, she explained. Even if one was able to achieve through pressure, it will not bring contentment, she added.
HSSLC (commerce) Topper
Gulabsa Khatun

Gulabsa Khatun’s success story has been repeating. She took the top-1 position among commerce students of the state. She secured 98.40% just in a smiliar way she ranked during HSLC years ago. This year, she secured the state-highest mark in four subjects namely economics, accountancy, entrepreneurship, and Fundamental Business Math. This is not the first time that Khatun is taking pleasure in academic success. She was also a rank holder (19th rank) in the HSLC of 2014. Aspiring to be a Chartered Accountant, Khatun’s next step is to get into a college that she hopes would shape her dream to be a successful CA. With 6 girls and a boy in the family, her proud father said that Khatun, as a girl, had always brought laurels to the family.

HSSLC (Arts) topper
Kikali Achumi

‘It’s no use studying for hours if there is no concentration on the subject,’ says Kikali Achumi who topped the HSSLC Arts stream in Nagaland. The 17 year old topper has finally marked history for St. John Higher Secondary Residential School in Dimapur: she secured the first rank in the Arts stream with 89%.
A permanent resident of Akuluto sub-division under Zunheboto district, Kikali Achumi is eldest of four children born to a businessman. During a short interview with reporters from various local dailies, Achumi said to be aspiring to become a ‘history professor’ in a reputed university one day as ‘teaching is a royal profession.”
Without any tuition, Achumi studied maximum of 4-5 hours a day. The topper enjoys reading history books and classical novels. The achiever is grateful that her parents never pressurized her in any way. This, Achumi explained, were her biggest encouragement from her parents.
HSSLC (science)
topper
Metsivilie Seyie

For HSSLC (science) topper Metsivilie Seyie, his achievement comes from a combination of hard work and determination. The Kohima Science College student scored an aggregate 472 marks securing 94.40% to outdo 2, 247 of his peers who qualified. “Initially, I could not believe that I got through in the top-1 position but after the news sank in, I am very happy and thankful to the Almighty,” says the young topper humbly. Not only did he top the stream, Seyie has defied the popular notion of the Naga being ‘weak’ in mathematics: he emerged the subject’s topper with 97 out of 100. He also topped biology by scoring 98. The 19-year-old from Khonoma village, who lost both his parents at an early age and is being looked after by an uncle, told Eastern Mirror that he tries not to focus on his background but rather stay positive on good things ahead. He loves the simple things in life and enjoys going to new places and doing ordinary household chores. On his plans for the future, he said that most people would expect toppers to pursue medicine or engineering but he has decided to take up Bachelor’s with mathematics honors and pursue his passion for teaching. He has expressed deep concern at the shortage of mathematics and science teachers in schools in Nagaland. “Our people consider math as a very tough subject but what we need is to build a strong foundation from the primary levels of education to the high school level where the basics are taught. Mathematics is a subject which, when we get deeper into it, gets more interesting,” Seyie said. The young topper also divulged that he has never taken any extra tuition on the subject and had tried his best on his own even though he struggled a lot.
The topper wants to encourage his juniors that there is no hurdle in the face of determination. He is determined to convince the Naga in overcoming negative notions about mathematics and inspire them to take up the subject ‘to fill the gaps visible in the schools.’ While acknowledging the support from his family, teachers and hostel warden, the young achiever’s message to the people was this: God created everyone for a purpose and they must think positively, always stay mentally-active and work hard to achieve.
Earlier in 2014 too, Metsivilie Seyie defied odds by securing the top-9 position in HSLC. Besides, he scored distinction in all the subjects–a rare feat by a student of, yes, a government high school.