St Mary’s English High School, Maligaon which secured the first and 10th positions, recorded 100 per cent pass percentage this year too. Out of the 119 students who appeared for the exams, 110 got first division and 9 got second division. Besides 22 got distinction and 47 got star marks. It needs to be mentioned here that this is the last batch of the school under SEBA. From next year onwards, its students will be under CBSE.

Interestingly, when the first batch of the school sat under SEBA for HSLC exam, the first position came to the school. Sister Cecilia Thomas of the school said that hard work of the students, commitment of the teachers and the focus of the school authorities on maintaining discipline were some of the major factors behind the success of its students.

“We feel SEBA needs some reformation to check all the glitches and improve its functioning. This time we were all very apprehensive about our results and a bit angry too because of the hiccups that were seen during and after the exams,” said Bhaswati Deka, who secured the first position, during a telephonic conversation from Delhi.

Deeply grateful to her parents, teachers, and the school authorities for the support, Bhaswati who is into Bharat Natyam, music and painting, has called upon all her juniors to enjoy studying and not to consider it as a burden. “You will be successful if you don’t think studies as a burden,” said Bhaswati.

Tenth position holder from the same school Himakshi Boro too said that the SEBA should work in a more responsible manner.

“I was praying all the while that my answerscript does not get messed up. I am heaving a sigh of relief now,” smiled Himakshi who has decided to pursue science.

In keeping with its stellar performance in recent years, Assam Jatiya Bidyalay (Noonmati) had the best overall result, with 138 of its 143 candidates securing first division including the sixth and tenth ranks. There were just five in second division.

As many as 37 and 62 of its students secured distinction and star marks respectively – the highest for any school in the State. In English, 121 candidates got letter marks, followed by 85 in Assamese, 73 in General Science, 68 in Social Science, and 61 each in General Mathematics, Advanced Mathematics and Computer Science.

There was a total of 537 letter marks in different subjects from the school. Three of its students – Kankan Goswami (General Maths & Science), Akashdeep Deka (Adv Maths), and Priti Parmita (Adv Maths) – were among those who secured the highest marks in the subjects.

Aparajita Bhuyan, Principal, Jatiya Bidyalay, attributed the school’s consistently good performance to a concerted effort involving teachers, management, students and guardians.

“Our teachers have been a most committed lot, and we involve the guardians as well in the process of imparting education to their wards,” she said.

On the very high incidence of its students getting letter marks in English, she said that despite being an Assamese-medium school, a lot of emphasis is put on both written and spoken English, and the results were showing it.

Priti Parmita, the sixth rank-holder from Assam Jatiya Bidyalay, said that though she was confident of a good performance, the result exceeded her expectations. She plans to pursue science.

Ankur Jyoti Goswami, the tenth rank-holder from the same school, attributed his success to his hard work as well his teachers’ guidance. “It is dream coming true…I intend to get admitted to the Cotton College and later pursue engineering,” he said.

Holy Child HS School, too, celebrated its success. Out of the 124 students who appeared for the exams, 111 got first division, 13 got second division, 21 secured distinction and 47 got star marks. This school very soon will go under CBSE and all the paper works in this connection are nearing completion.

“SEBA should be made more efficient and responsible. I was full of worry about my results,” said Neha Sharma of this school who secured the 4th position. Neha, daughter of well-known film personality Bobita Sharma, will pursue her studies in UK and in future she wants to work for the UN.

“My mother has always taught me to be independent. I believe in hard work and consistency to be successful in life,” said Neha who also has a penchant for writing and classical music.

Ipsita Das of Happy Child High School who got the 6th position attributed her success to hard work and support and guidance of her parents, teachers and school authorities. She was quite tense about her results because of the situation created by SEBA and was happy after the declaration of results. Interested in reading and travelling, Ipsita is going to take admission in Gauhati Commerce College.