TOPPERS TALK: THESE HIGH-SCORERS MISSED THE GOLD ONLY BY A MARK OR TWO

SECOND She plans to be an IAS officer
Nitin Yeshwantrao | TNN
Thane: While Shefali Pradeep Mhadadalkar—who is ranked second in the Mumbai division with 96.3%, loves watching television—she insisted that there can be no compromises when it comes to study time.

“She has tremendous grasping ability and concentration. She would not immerse herself in her books all the time, and would make time to watch her favourite show and documentaries on National Geographic,’’ said her father who is employed with the Mumbai Port Trust.

The 15-year-old attributed her success to her teachers at Saraswati Vidyalaya High School at Rabodi in Thane, and her parents. “I plan to take admission in the science stream and will also prepare for competitive exams. I want to become and IAS officer,’’ she said. Anjali intends to enrol at Kelkar College in Mulund, and will give the popular south Mumbai colleges a miss.

SECOND ‘Mum’s strength inspired me’
Prathmesh Kher | TNN
Mumbai: Thursday was a day of celebration for city second ranker Sanket Patil, 16, who scored 96.3% in the state board exam. “In the morning, when the news channels started flashing my name as the second topper from Mumbai, I thought they were talking of someone else. But then I got a call from my school,’’ said Sanket, a student of St Anthony’s Convent High School, Vasai.

He attributed his success to his parents who he said inspired him with their determination. Sanket’s mother is battling cancer, and it’s her strength that helped, said the teenager. Speaking of his study routine, he said, “I followed a strict timetable set by my parents. I would study in school, at home and in coaching classes. But I took time out for extracurricular activities like dancing, singing and writing.’’ Sanket intends to join an IIT and become an engineer.

SECOND ‘I didn’t expect to do this well’
Nimish Sawant I TNN
Mumbai: The SSC results day will remain etched in the memory of Nishigandha Kerure, who lost the top rank in the state by a mere one mark. But Nishigandha was delighted when she scored 96.3% at the SSC examination, making her rank second overall in the state.

A student of the semi-English medium of Balmohan Vidyamandir, Nishigandha had moved to Mumbai from Osmanabad two years ago. “I was expecting to score around 95%, but I never thought I’d stand second in the state board. This has come as a pleasant surprise to me,’’ said Nishigandha.

“I never followed a strict timetable. I studied for only around three to four hours every day. After prelims, I put in more hours,’’ she said. Nishigandha wants to pursue either mechanical or chemical engineering at the IIT.

THIRD Hard work ultimately pays off
Nitin Yeshwantrao | TNN
Thane: It was her parents’ emphasis on education and hard work that inspired Tejal Sandesh Pradhan to give her best shot at the SSC exam. Having bagged the third position in the Mumbai division with 96.15%, the 15-year-old student of A K Joshi School in Naupada, Thane, is set to follow in the footsteps of her family, most of whom are engineers.

Discipline and sticking to her well-laid-out study timetable, she said, helped her focus. “I worked hard to achieve this. My parents had prepared a chart, which I followed strictly. I also had spare time to pursue my hobbies,’’ said the teenager.
“She has always been a school topper, and this year she received the ‘Best Girl’ trophy,’’ said her mother Madhuri, an electrical engineer. Tejal intends to take up engineering, which one could say, is the family profession.

THIRD A mix of sports and studies
Nimish Sawant I TNN
Mumbai: Mrunmai Jadhav realised that she had stood third in the state board Std X exams in the Mumbai division when she saw her name being flashed on news channels on Thursday.

A student of IES VN Sule School, Dadar, Mrunmai scored 96.15%. Discipline, she said, played a major role in her success. “I studied regularly through the year. After the prelims, I made a timetable and followed it diligently,” said Mrunmai, who scored 100% in science.

Mrunmai is an avid sportsperson. “I am passionate about chess and badminton. I even represented my school at the district level in both sports in my final year,” she said. Her father, Padmakar, a BMC engineer, wants her to be an IAS officer. “She has been an intelligent child, so I was expecting her to cross 95%. I also expected her to feature in the merit list,” he said.

CITY TOPPER

Bagging the top slot comes naturally to this Thane girl

Nitin Yeshwantrao | TNN

Thane: Sonali Shantaram Chavan, who has topped the Mumbai region in the state board exams with 96.46%, has become a local celebrity in her school, Saraswati Secondary School. But excelling in academics is not new to her: the 16-yearold has a stellar report card. “I won a silver medal in the state scholarship exams in Std IV. In Std VI, I bagged a gold medal in the Homi Bhabha Balvidnyanik examination. Last year, I secured a silver in the seniors category in the Homi Bhabha examination,’’ said the Thane girl.

Sonali is not the kind to rest on her laurels. “I intend to join an IIT and pursue a career in engineering. I have already enrolled in a coaching class and have started preparations for the entrance exams. For now, though, I will take admission in the science stream at M H College in Thane,’’ she said, while signing on notebooks forwarded to her by the primary section children of her school.

Unlike most high scorers who gloss over the study time they put in, Sonali said that she studied till 12.30am every day. “Most of my coaching was done by my school teachers. At home, my grandmother would be by my side all along to give me company and also ensure that I was studying. My father would help me in math.’’

School principal Shaila Barve said, “Sonali has been a perfect student. She was among the 30 students from our school, who were chosen for special coaching during the holidays.’’

Shantaram Chavan, her father, added: “She is a perfectionist and gives full attention to whatever she does.’’

STATE TOPPER

Latur town celebrates state topper’s victory

Syed Rizwanullah | TNN

Aurangabad: Shilpa Basavraj Hiremath, the state topper in the SSC examination, wants to become an IAS officer. But, first she intends to become a doctor.

“Obtaining an MBBS degree would help me realise the dreams of my parents, who are hoping that someone in the family will become a doctor,’’ said the Latur girl, who scored 641 out of 650 marks—98.61%—in the state board exams.

Shilpa is a student of Adarsh Vidyalaya, Omerga and her parent are both teachers, while her elder brother is studying engineering. “I will prepare for the UPSC while doing my MBBS. I don’t think it will be difficult.” Her parents are, of course, ecstatic. “We know that Shilpa will succeed in whatever she does,” said her father, Basavraj. “We will extend every possible support to Shilpa, and help her fulfil her dreams of becoming an IAS officer.”

“She has made us proud,” said S G Dagale, Shilpa’s school principal.

6K city kids break 90% barrier

1.48% Students From Across Maharashtra Scored Over 90%. ICSE Students Performed Better With 4% Scoring As High

Hemali Chhapia | TNN

Mumbai: The campus of Dadar’s Balmohan Vidyamandir, the popularly called the ‘toppers’ factory’, resembled a picture straight out of Diwali celebrations. On Thursday, 53 of its students had scored over 90%, the magical number that opens doors into just about any city college. Last year, the pool of highscorers in this school stood way lower at just 14.

It was a similar scene in several other schools across the city. Bombay Cambridge had 25 of its students in this elite 90% club, up from the previous year’s ten. The People’s Education Society, too, had 20 students who scored 90% and above, this year.

Data from the state board reveals that 1.48% or 18,863 students from across Maharashtra scored over 90%; last year it stood at 13,679. In fact, though, the Mumbai division witnessed a dip in its success rate, the top of the chart looked impressive with 6,190 candidates (as compared to last year’s 4,083) who crossed the 90% barrier.

State board chairperson Vijaysheela Sardesai said that the percentage of high scorers was still way lower than the toppers of the other boards. Across Maharashtra, 3.95% ICSE students had scored over 90%.

One school principal pointed out that getting over 90% this year has a whole new meaning with the state wanting to reserve 90% per cent of junior college seats for SSC students.

Apart from the large pool of high rankers, the number of distinction holders has also gone up. Junior college principals feel that the problem of plenty may hit the “pedestrian” first class and distinction holders. Devaluation of the ‘distinction slot’ had once forced the state to redefine the term. In 1975, the bar for distinction was raised from 70% to 75% in Maharashtra, as the state felt that 70% had become commonplace.

Academicians feel that exam reforms have also been responsible in boosting scores. “Today, a larger number of students manage to fall in the 70-75% bracket, due to internal assessment, and the fact that papers have become more objective over the years. You can’t discount competition, either. Students prepare for Class X exams from Class IX itself,” said a state board official.

An improvement in performance was evident across schools. If 33 schools had 0% pass percentage in 2006, only 21 in the Mumbai region failed completely, this year. Similarly, if 192 schools had a 100% success rate in 2006, the number jumped to 525 institutions. So, if the state once revised the distinction definition, it may be time to revisit the toweringly high 90% label.

Thane shines for 7th consecutive year

Residents of Thane had reason to celebrate when the state board Class X results were announced on Thursday morning. Three of the city’s toppers in the Mumbai division — Sonali Chavan (96.46%), Shefali Mhadadalkar (96.3%) and Tejal Pradhan (96.15%) were local girls. This is the seventh consecutive year that Thane has produced city toppers. The total pass percentage in Thane district was 86.16 per cent. Of the 1,353 schools in the district, 17% ensured that all its students passed the exams.

Question mark on 90:10
The Maharashtra government on Thursday assured the Bombay High Court that while it would begin the process of admissions from Friday, the admissions would be finalised only after the court’s decision on the 90:10 issue. The HC has scheduled the hearing of the PIL challenging the 90:10 rule on June 29

With inputs from Pratibha Mansad

RIDING HIGH: Sonali Shantaram Chavan will never forget the day she topped the SSC exam in Mumbai

More high-scorers, but more failures too in city

Anahita Mukherji & Hemali Chhapia | TNN

Mumbai: The SSC results for 2009 have brought both cheer and chagrin to Mumbai. Over one-third of Maharashtra’s students who scored over 90% are from Mumbai alone—6,190 to be precise. In fact, of the 12.78 lakh who cleared the SSC exam in the state, 1.48% or 18,863 scored over 90% this year, up from 13,679 last year.

At the same time, the city’s pass percentage has dipped 2.24% over last year even as the state celebrates a 1.3% overall rise in that figure. Add to this the fact that Mumbai has ranked third from the bottom in the pass percentage among the eight divisions in the state. Coming close on the heels of a 6% drop in its HSC pass performance, Mumbai’s SSC result has been a mixed basket of cherries and lemons.

Explaining the dip, Shridhar Salunkhe, chairperson of the Mumbai division of the state board, said, “Last year, an internal assessment was introduced for the first time and most schools were liberal with their markings. But this time the board held a session with schools to explain the various parameters for marking students.’’

In absolute figures, 4,500 more students cleared the exam this year from Mumbai division compared to last year. “We will ensure that all students get seats in junior colleges in their preferred stream,’’ said Salunkhe.

Failed students may not have to lose out on a year
There could be some cheer for students who failed the SSC exam. The board is considering allowing them to reappear for their papers within a month so that they do not lose out on an academic year by sitting for the re-exam in October.

Infy boss to join govt as cabinet minister

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi/Bangalore: He’s been a poster boy of Indian infotech, co-founded a company that has become a byword for participative entrepreneurship, given Thomas Friedman the idea for the bestselling The World Is Flat, and himself penned a book, Imagining India. And now, at the age of 54, his shareholding in Infosys alone worth Rs 3,500 crore, Nandan Nilekani has taken on one of the most ambitious government programs ever envisaged—heading the project to equip every Indian with a biometric Unique Identification Card (UIC). This is the biggest movement from private sector to government in India in recallable memory.

Nilekani, who will quit his job as co-chairman of the Rs 22,000 crore Infosys to avoid
any conflict of interest, has been given the rank and status of a cabinet minister, a deadline of three years, a corpus of Rs 100 crore and—perhaps most importantly—the flexibility to draw in talent from the private sector to build his core team.

The lateral entry of business barons into government is fairly commonplace in the US but rare in India. Nilekani’s is the most significant appointment since 1987 when the then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi brought in Sam Pitroda to head the Technology Mission which paved the way for the IT and telecom revolutions.

WHAT’S THE UNIQUE ID PROJECT?

Ambitious | Rs 150,000 cr Unique Identity Card (UIC) project will catalogue personal details of every Indian citizen on smart cards

Detailed | To include name, sex, address, marital status, photo, identification mark and finger biometrics

Hi-tech | Will be based on a sophisticated application called SCOSTA, a secured electronic device that’s used for keeping data & other info in a way that only authorized persons can view it

Versatile | Can be used for a number of things, ranging from use as voter I-card to proof for opening a bank account. Can also help deter illegal immigration

Urgent | Scheme was launched in Nov 2003 and has so far been given to just 31 lakh citizens. Miffed by the delay, the SC pulled up the govt in Jan and asked it to implement the scheme speedily countrywide

Times View

This paper has relentlessly campaigned, primarily through its Lead India initiative, for cleaner, better governance. A good way to achieve this, we’ve said, is to have educated, ethical, efficient and dedicated people from civil society and the private sector join government. We aren’t surprised that it was Nandan Nilekani who’s made this leap of faith — he and his mentor, N R Narayana Murthy, have always been imbued by a sense of public purpose. And we commend Manmohan Singh — himself an accomplished economist-bureaucat — for bringing in a first rate entrepreneur-technocrat for a project of ambitious proportions. May many more Nilekanis bloom. India will be the better for it.

UIC project fits Nandan’s passion
New Delhi/Bangalore: The Unique Identification Card (UIC) project could have as huge an impact as Sam Pitroda’s Technology Mission. In its first phase, it will identify the beneficiaries of schemes on which the government has been spending billions with little guarantee that the money was actually reaching the deserving.

It is learnt that beneficiaries of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), the public distribution system and the still-to-be-enacted Food Security Act will be the first to be given the cards. “The aim is to ensure that development objectives are achieved without leakages and pilferage. It will be targeted at the marginalised population in the first phase,’’ a source said. Other UPA flagship schemes—Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan, National Rural Health Mission and Bharat Nirman—will also be covered.

Nilekani first got a call from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in early June, with an offer to join the Planning Commission. He declined, but was intrigued by the prospect of becoming an effective change agent—especially since he’s still relatively young. He stepped down as CEO a couple of years ago to become co-chairman of Infy—which has no other co-chairman, or chairman, but does have an enviable succession process. In a sense, Nilekani’s ability to influence policy from the outside had reached its zenith, it made sense to shape it now from within.

So, when the UIC opportunity came up, it proved irresistible, especially since it is a technologydriven initiative that dovetails perfectly with the core competence of this electrical engineer from IITBombay. The move also fits into his passion for public service. And it has the blessings of his longtime mentor, N R Narayana Murthy.

“It’s like a younger brother going out of home, seeking nobler aspirations. Nandan was the third person I spoke to when I founded Infosys. He is a good conceptualiser, a good thinker, a big picture man...I rank this project on the scale of importance and impact with Sam Pitroda’s telecom project, M S Swaminathan’s green revolution and Prof Yashpal’s Sites (satellite instruction & TV experiment) project,’’ Murthy told TOI.

Other leaders of India Inc also welcomed the move enthusiastically. “It’s a very good development. We need many more Nandans if the government is in the mood to induct professionals. The key is to task them with a specific responsibility that no one else is doing, and give them independence,’’ said HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh.

Nandan Nilekani at home in Bangalore with wife Rohini. He will head the government’s mega ID card program

Sibal for one board, no Xth exams

100-Day Plan Seeks To Replace Marks With Grades

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Seeking to bring back some joy to childhood and to high school,Kapil Sibal’s first act as HRD minister has won the hearts of millions of kids across the country—not to mention their parents—crushed under exam stress. As the cornerstone of a larger revamp plan, Sibal on Thursday proposed making the class X board exam optional in CBSE-affiliated schools, if possible from next year itself.

The radical overhaul of the education system also envisages replacing marks with grades, establishing an overarching higher education authority under a one-nation,one-board principle and bringing in a tough law to prevent,prohibit and punish educational malpractices. Academic reforms, including a semester system and credit transfers will begin to be rolled out in the next 100 days.

“Sleepless nights over the Class X examination are not needed. We will reform it and make the Class X examination optional. We should not traumatise education. It is unacceptable,’’ Sibal told TOI after announcing a 100-day schedule to roll out an ambitious reforms package. He acknowledged that the move to make Class X board exams optional could encounter some resistance from state governments and other quarters, but was hopeful of getting round the hurdles by negotiating with them. “We will consult everyone,’’ he said.

New Course For EDUCATION
IN SCHOOLS Proposal: Make Class X exams optional, thus permitting students continuing in same school (and who do not need a board certificate) to take an internal school assessment instead Feasibility:

Great step forward. But state govts have resisted it since 2005 when it was made part of National Curriculum Framework. Also, schools today allocate streams in Class XI based on Class X marks. Whether a board exam or an internal assessment, how will it ease stress on the child? Also, what about schools which are only till Class X?

P: Introduce a system replacing marks by grades in schools affiliated to CBSE for secondary classes, ie IX and X
F: High time it was done. CBSE has been resisting it. But uniformity is needed across all state school boards

P: Enact the Children’s Right to Free and Compulsory Education Bill
F: The bill is in Rajya Sabha and will certainly become law in the Budget session

IN HIGHER STUDIES

Proposal: An autonomous authority for higher education & research, based on Yashpal committee and National Knowledge Commission reports
Feasibility: With UGC having failed, there is growing demand for such a body. But ministries like health, agriculture and others who run educational institutions will not welcome intrusion on their turf

P: A law for mandatory assessment and accreditation in higher eduction through an independent regulatory authority
F: Possible, and very necessary given the poor state of private, deemed and state universities

P: Review of functioning of existing deemed universities
F: Work has already started. Much-needed step

P: Introduction of semesters and choice-based credit system in central institutions
F: Much needed. Work has already begun but barring Delhi University, few central educational institutions are in position to implement it in the next 100 days

WHAT SIBAL WOULD LIKE TO DO
P: Have a single board examination throughout the country
F: A contentious issue. State governments are going to oppose it strongly

P: Eventually, scrap Class XII exams
F: On what basis would college admissions take place? One proposal is to replace Class XII boards with a common entrance exam, but that would simply mean replacing one stressful exam with another

TIMES VIEW
Doing away with the Class X board exams, unifying all schools in India under a single board, and replacing marks with grades are excellent ideas. Achieving these involves getting across many serious hurdles, both political and logistical. But that is no reason for jettisoning good ideas. If these ideas become reality, the stress faced by students and parents would be significantly reduced. Also, the problems associated with many different boards, each following a different syllabus and marking system, would cease to exist. The fact that the hurdles are serious only means that authorities at the state and Central level must pull together if the aim is to be achieved. Time and energy spent on arguing why this cannot happen would be better spent figuring out how to make it happen.