Ramanathapuram secures two State ranks

MERIT MATTERS:State third rank holders in the SSLC examinations (from left) M.G. Pradeep Kumar and P. Thilagavathi along with Ramanathapuram district toppers M.J. Subashini, S.M. Chitti Fathima and G. Bhavya. RAMANATHAPURAM: The native district of renowned rocket scientist and former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam came out with flying colours on Wednesday when the Directorate of Government Examinations declared the results of Tenth Standard Public Examinations. Not one, but two of its students secured the third place in State ranking in the Secondary School Leaving Certificate (S.S.L.C.) stream.
B. Thilagavathi, daughter of an ex-serviceman and M.G. Pradeep Kumar, son of a Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation employee, scored 493 out of 500 marks to grab the third place. They scored centum in mathematics as well as science. The toppers were students of A.V. Higher Secondary School and Sourashtra Higher Secondary School in Paramakudi respectively.
The two State toppers also shared the first place in district ranking, while M.J. Subashini of A.V. Higher Secondary School stood second in Ramanathapuram revenue district with 492 marks. The third rank went to two students, S.M. Chitti Fathima of Muslim Higher Secondary School at Abiraman and G. Bhavya of St. Michael Higher Secondary School at Sengudi. They scored 489 marks each.
Fathima, the last among three daughters of a television mechanic, scored centum both in mathematics and science subjects akin to the State toppers.
However, she lost a few marks in English and Social Science scoring 94 and 97 marks respectively. “My grandfather owned a ‘halwa' (sweet) shop in Abiramam. If everything goes as planned, I would be the first doctor in my family,” she said.
The other third rank holder Bhavya is the daughter of a Government bus conductor.
In the Matriculation Board, S. Jeyamanikandan scored the first place in the district with 485 marks. While S. Indhu came second with 481 marks, S. Mohammed Tajudeen and S. Vaisika scored 480 marks to take the third place. All the four students were studying at National Academy Montessori Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Ramanathapuram.
Out of 1,150 students who wrote the examinations in the Matriculation Board, 1,110 cleared all the subjects taking the pass percentage to 96.52 per cent. Only 95.05 per cent of boys came out successful compared to 98.28 per cent of girls. The pass percentage in the State Board (83.04) was much lesser as only 14,875 from among 17,914 students cleared the examinations.
Nineteen out of 138 State Board schools and 24 out of 38 Matriculation Board schools in the district recorded 100 per cent results. The pass percentage among State Board schools had been going down for the last three years. The district recorded 84.6 per cent in 2009 and 85 per cent in 2008.
However, the pass percentage of Matriculation schools had improved. It was 94.59 per cent in 2009.