Girls performed better than boys while the overall pass percentage indicated a definite improvement this year as Jharkhand Academic Council announced intermediate examination results on Thursday.

According to details announced by the council, in science, the pass percentage was 58.99, which was slightly better than the last four years. (Students can check their results here : https://www.abpeducation.com/results/jac-12th-result )

In commerce, the success rate was 77.37 per cent, which was the highest in the last 10 years. With 82.53 per cent students passing in arts, this year’s percentage was an improvement from the previous best of 81.36 in 2015.

In terms of absolute numbers, 44,626 out of 75,638 students passed in science, 21,765 out of 28,130 in commerce and 1,05,256 out of 1,27,532 arts.

Girls did better than boys in all three disciplines of science, commerce and arts with overall pass percentages of 61.73, 84.73 and 84.20 compared to boys who notched up percentages of 61.73, 71.16 and 79.94, respectively.

In science, Hazaribagh (72.60), Koderma (69.89) and Giridih (67.69) were the top three in terms of pass percentages. In urban pockets, Dhanbad (58.52) was placed eighth, followed by Ranchi (57.32) in 10th position and Bokaro (54.93) in 14th place. With a pass percentage of 48.11, East Singhbhum lagged far behind in 21st position out of 24 districts of the state.

In commerce, Lohardaga (95.09), Ranchi (83.77) and Koderma (81.87) emerged as the top three performers in terms of pass percentage. Dhanbad (80.45), East Singbhum (76.80), Hazaribagh (73.28) and Bokaro (71.90) finished in fifth, 10th, 12th and 16th place.

Simdega (97.43), Khunti (95.25) and Ranchi (90.96) districts occupied the top three positions in arts in terms of pass percentage. East Singbhum (89.80) came fifth, Dhanbad (82.50) 16th, Hazaribagh (78.92) 19th and Bokaro (76.37) 22nd.

JAC chairman Arvind Prasad Singh said that despite the severe challenges posed by the global pandemic, all members of the council had worked very hard to ensure the results weren’t delayed beyond July. He said that the improved pass percentage was reflection of the efforts of both teachers and students. “Our job is only to conduct the test and evaluate it. I would give credit to both teachers and students for the better results this time.”

Singh noted that to help students with last-minute preparations, JAC had been issuing model test papers well in advance, way before the start of matric and intermediate examinations.

The JAC chairman rued that results got delayed by at least a month due to the pandemic. “Actually, we began evaluations from March 28 but had to suspend work due to the outbreak of the coronavirus. Thereafter, following the state government’s permission, we managed to resume the process from May 28 amid a host of precautionary measures at evaluation centres. It was certainly tough for us too,” he noted.

State education minister Jagannath Mahto said the state government was trying to ensure better results in the coming years. “We are determined to bring government schools at par with private ones in terms of education and facilities. The change will be visible on the ground soon,” he said.s