ICSE, ISC students in UAE show excellence despite pandemic obstacles

UAE - Despite the restrictions caused by the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, students who attempted the Indian School Certificate Examinations (ICSE) grade 10 exams and Indian School Certificate (ISC) grade 12 exams have scored top marks in the UAE.

In the UAE, several hundred students studying in the GEMS Modern Academy, JSS International School and Ambassador School attempted the examination this academic year and all schools are boasting excellent academic performances.

The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE), a privately held national-level board of school education declared the annual examination results on Friday at 1.30pm. The global pass percentage of grade 10 students stood at 99.33 per cent and grade 12 is at 96.84 per cent, announced the CISCE.

The CISCE exams - scheduled to be held in February and March - was postponed due to the Covid-19 outbreak towards the end of March. However, the pending exams were held in July and pupils in the UAE were given the option to sit the remaining examinations at some point in July. Alternatively, pupils can elect to be graded on their internal school exams and pre-board examinations that were held previously.

100 on 100 in four subjects

A student of JSS International School, Keerthana Nair, is said to have topped the UAE with a whopping 99.2 per cent marks with four centum out of five subjects and a 96 out of 100 in the fifth subject.

Lata Nakra, principal of JSS International School, announced the ICSE grade average was 93.22 per cent, an increase of 3.42 per cent as compared to last year's 89.8 per cent. The school's ISC results stand at 87.6 per cent, an increase of 1.4 per cent as compared to last year's 86.2 per cent. The school's ISC Science topper Gayathri Girish scored a 96.5 per cent and the commerce topper is Gauri Parvathi with 96.25 per cent.

ISC pupils at GEMS Modern Academy have achieved an average score of 90.43 per cent this year. The top-performing ISC students, Meghna Jain and Samrudhi Saju, achieved near-perfect scores of 99 per cent. The results include 40 scores of 100 per cent in specific subject results. In addition, 62 per cent of students at the school achieved an average score of 90 per cent and above, compared to 48 per cent last year. "A total of 150 students sat the ISC exams and 205 students attempted the ICSE exams this year," said Nargish Khambatta, vice-president of Education and principal of Gems Modern Academy.

ICSE pupils have achieved a pass rate of 100 per cent and an impressive average of 91.62 per cent - a record high for the school, explained Khambatta. A total of 71.2 per cent of students achieved above 90 per cent and the school's results include 68 scores of 100 per cent across a range of different subjects. The school's top-performing students - Vishnumaya Deepak Chandran and Mobina Khan - achieved outstanding scores of 98.2 per cent. "ICSE students faced a particularly challenging situation, as they were caught between preparing for the remaining board exams and continuing with their Grade 11 classes as we embarked on an interesting start of the new academic year via remote learning."

"With guidance and support from our teachers and parents, our ISC and ICSE students displayed maturity and worked hard without a murmur of complaints," she said.

Students outperform previous batches

Sheela Menon, principal of Ambassador School in Dubai, said the ISC school average of 89.78 per cent is an all-time high for the school, and the average for ICSE was at 90.72 per cent. She said the school pupils have once again emerged world and UAE toppers in Mathematics, Physics, Commerce, Computer Science and Physical Education with a perfect score of 100 in the ISC examinations. "Out of the 25 students who appeared for ISC examination, 16 scored above 90 per cent," said Menon.

She added: "In ICSE, out of 24 students who appeared, 16 students scored above 90 per cent." The Grade 12 school topper, Ritika Ramesh Iyer scored a whopping 98.75 per cent with 100 in Mathematics, Physics and Computer Science. "She is closely followed by Naher Bhasin who scored 97.25 per cent with a centum in Commerce," said Menon.

The ICSE school topper, Harsh Manghnani scored an impressive 98.4 per cent with two centum in Computer Applications and History Civics and Geography followed by Riya Sharma with 98 per cent and Kishore Suresh with 97.80 per cent, respectively.