Much to cheer as Chennai schools shine on

CHENNAI: Schools run by the Corporation of Chennai have had another good run this year in the Class XII examinations. The civic body’s schools have hit an overall pass percentage of 84.81 percent, down 1.6 from last year, which was an all-time high.Students of Chennai Higher Secondary Schools have clocked 25 centums, up from 18 and 11 in the two preceding years. This year also marked a new high for the Corporation in schools that sent students for the Class 12 examinations: from 27 schools in 2007-08 to 32 this year. Twenty of these 32 schools have achieved a pass percentage of over 80, 5 schools between 80 and 60 percent, and 7 schools had pass percentage below 60.The topper among CHSS was R Suganya of the Corporation Girls HSS in Saidapet, who scored 1149 marks. Two students shared second rank - K Sangeetha of CGHSS Nungambakkam and K Hemamalini of CGHSS MH Road - with 1146 marks. Third rank was secured by A Subramani of Corporation Boys HSS Saidapet, with 1138 marks.The number of students appearing for the examinations registered growth with 6,490 this year, over last year’s 5,800. Girls outperformed boys: while 89 per cent of the girls passed, the boys clocked in 76.6 per cent. The number of students who scored over 1,000 marks also rose, from 241 to 298.The Corporation has had a practice of presenting cash awards of `1500, `1000 and `500 to students who secured the top three ranks, both overall and for each subject. Recently, Mayor Saidai S Duraisamy had proposed to double this cash award. The Corporation is also in the habit of paying for a part of the higher education of the toppers, but any such announcement is yet to be made.