90%+ club shrinks by over 800, board to study what caused fall

Pune: The number of students scoring 90% and above marks in HSC shrank to 7,510 this year compared with last year's 8,352. It was also the lowest in the last three years. Mumbai division has 3,466, the highest number of such students followed by Amravati division at 1,003 and then Pune division at 981.Mahendra Ganpule, spokesperson of Maharashtra School Principals' Federation, attributed the fall to less importance being given to HSC board examinations. "The 90% club is mostly driven by students from the science stream with scoring subjects like mathematics, physics, where cent percent marks is possible. However, most students concentrate on JEE/NEET and pay little heed to HSC marks. Since engineering and medical college admissions are based on the scores from the entrance exams and consider board exams as a qualification criteria, most students don't prepare well for HSC subjects," Ganpule added.The expert said, "Soon, the state board syllabus will also align with competitive exams and will see more students scoring 90% and above marks." Principals said lower marks in Std XII will not significantly affect cut-off percentages in merit list during senior college admissions as over the years, the bar has been coming down.Deepak Powdel, principal of Brihan Maharashtra College of Commerce (BMCC), said, "Five years ago, if the first merit list for a coveted course closed at 94% now it closes at 91%. The students have many options now that merit is distributed and hence cut-off percentages are coming down."
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