DIYUN, May 15: Students at Govt Secondary Schools of Gautampur and Dumpather - both under Diyun circle in Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh - have achieved their highest-ever results with pass percentages of 58% and 52%, respectively, in the CBSE Class X results declared on Monday.
This significant improvement in students' performance in the Class X CBSE 2024 Board exam comes after several years of consistently low pass percentages, with results for the schools falling below 12% in previous years.
Last year only 3 students had passed from Govt Sec School (GSS), Dumpather, making the overall pass percentage a meagre 6.9%, while 4 students had passed from GSS Gautampur with overall pass percentage of 6.4%.
This year, the pass percentage at GSS Dumpather surged to 52% from last year’s 6.9%, marking a remarkable increase of 45.1 percentage points. Likewise, pass percentage of GSS Gautampur soared from 6.4% to 58% showcasing an improvement of 51.6 percentage points.
Even though it may appear from the outside that these two schools have only secured a pass percentage of less than 60% anyway which is not a big deal. However, given the students’ low learning levels and learning gaps ridden with lack of severe English proficiency and lack of basic Maths and core subject knowledge foundation which have built over the years due to lack of foundation years and then finally overcoming all these learning challenges to then passing the board exam is itself a life changing milestone for these students to keep them motivated and on path towards a brighter career path.
Sunny Singh, former Deputy Commissioner of Changlang under whose leadership the Board Support Program was launched, expressed his delight and stated, "If the students who received compartmental results subsequently pass the subjects under compartment, then the overall pass percentage of both these respective schools will exceed 96%, which is nothing short of extraordinary."
It is pertinent to mention that this success story would not have been possible without the implementation of a CBSE Exam Board Exam Support Program by the District Administration, Changlang under the leadership of former DC Sunny Singh, DDSE Tage Kakki, and its NGO partner India Foundation for Education Transformation (IFET). This program, implemented from August 2023 until the conclusion of the board exams on March 14, was a comprehensive and holistic intervention aimed at aiding students in preparing for and passing their CBSE board exams in 2024.
The program included various elements such as daily after-school intensive remedial support classes, regular assessments, one-on-one support, solving of mock papers, peer teaching, parental engagement, and incentivization of students' efforts in the learning process. IFET, as the intervention NGO partner, executed the program with utmost care and dedication. Six private teachers and subject experts from Bangalore were engaged periodically to enhance the students' learning experience.
The students were provided with a residential setup, with fooding and separate accommodations for boys and girls, ensuring complete care and supervision of their activities during the exam period from February 10 to March 14.
“I am extremely happy and satisfied with my result. I even doubted that I would pass due to distractions and lack of focus and preparations at home. Apart from school support we were given after-school remedial classes from August 2023. A month before the exams, we were provided with a facility to stay in a residential hostel accommodation where we all students received mentoring, assessments, motivation, and academic assistance, which made all the difference in our preparation,” Rohit Chakma, the topper at GSS Gautampur, expressed.
Gowry Sharma also shared her journey: “Initially, I doubted passing and I thought I would end up with a compartment and fail in Science. However, over the last four months leading up to our exams, we received extra tuition classes at school after regular hours, where we could seek clarification on any doubts. Additionally, while staying at the community circuit house with fellow students from GSS Dumpather, one night, a peer was diligently studying until past midnight at 1 am. Witnessing her dedication I got extra motivation to be competitive. This moment ignited a continuous drive, supported by our mentors and visiting teachers who tirelessly assisted us until the exam's final day.”
Asgar Ali, the HM of GSS Gautampur reflecting on the entire process credited the success to continuous intense academic drilling and monitoring from the school’s side and after school classes from the district administration side managed and run by NGO partner IFET.
It also may be noted that the local administration and the Army had also provided ration support. Overall, all stakeholders were deeply invested in the collaborative efforts in supporting students to help them pass their CBSE Class X Board Exam 2024.
This success story which is nothing short of a “gamechanger” can be a case study worth looking at in improving pass scores in low-performing schools where children battle with lowest learning levels.