According to police reports, a 17-year-old boy died by suicide after jumping from the 15th floor of a high-rise society in Sector 72 on Wednesday (May 14). The deceased studied in a private school in Sector 49 in class 12. As per police officials, the teenager was reportedly upset because he scored only 75 per cent marks in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) exam, short of 90 per cent, which he expected.
When he took the jump, his father was away at work, and his mother was at home. Locals, who heard the sound of the fall, informed the police. The boy was rushed to a hospital, where he was declared dead. The investigating officer said the boy was under no pressure from his parents to score 90 per cent or above.
CBSE board exams: No merit lists and divisions, certificates to top 0.1 pc students
To avoid any unhealthy competition among students, the CBSE neither announces any merit list for board exam results nor awards divisions. CBSE announced board exam results for classes 10 and 12 on Tuesday (May 13).
While more than 93 per cent of students cleared the Class 10 exam, the pass percentage in Class 12 stood at 88.39 per cent. Girls outshone boys in both exams. "According to an earlier decision by the board to avoid unhealthy competition among students, no merit list is prepared and declared by the CBSE. Also, the board has not awarded first, second and third division to its students," said Sanyam Bhardwaj, the CBSE's examination controller.
"The board will issue merit certificates to the top 0.1 per cent students who have scored the highest marks in subjects. The merit certificates will be available in the DigiLocker of the students concerned," Bhardwaj added.
The CBSE did not announce merit lists in 2020 and 2021 after the board adopted an alternative assessment scheme since some or all papers were cancelled due to COVID-19. It permanently discontinued the policy in 2022. However, several schools announced the names of their top-scorers.
Shloka Upadhyaya from Delhi Public School, Raj Nagar Extension, in Ghaziabad and Savi Jain from the Scottish International School in Shamli have both scored 499 out of 500 marks in the Class 12 exam.
"I used to study for four to five hours every day. After school, I attended tuition and then took some time to rest. I followed a fixed daily schedule, planning in advance which subject to focus on.
My goal was to understand each topic so thoroughly that I could be confident about at least 99 per cent of it," Jain said.