Dubai: Indian schools in the UAE have started receiving results for the Class 10 ICSE (Indian Certificate of Secondary Education) and Class 12 ISC (Indian School Certificate) after the board exams were cancelled this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
There are only around four schools in the UAE affiliated to CISCE (Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations) that administers ICSE and ISC. Their results are being made available on the council’s website and through SMS while the tabulation registers are being made available for schools through the ‘Careers’ portal.
How were results computed?
In lieu of exams, the results of these two board exams this year are based on students’ average marks in school-based exams over the last two academic years, as well as marks for projects and practical exams held this year at their school level.
Results summary
Overall, the pass percentage for ICSE is 99.98 and for ISC it is 99.76.
ICSE: Both girls and boys have achieved a pass percentage of 99.98. Around 219,500 students in total were evaluated from 2,422 schools in India and abroad.
ISC: Girls have achieved a higher pass percentage of 99.86 while boys achieved a lower pass percentage of 99.66. More than 94,000 students in total were evaluated from 1,166 schools in Indian and abroad.
Sheela Menon, Principal, Ambassador School, Dubai, said: “The fact that ICSE and ISC results have been declared despite no board exams being held this year further validates that consistency, resiliency and the ability to adapt to changes are the mantras to success.”
How Dubai schools fared
At Ambassador School Dubai, the school’s average of 91.38 for ISC is an all-time high. Student Varun Pethkar obtained a school record of 99.5 per cent in ISC, with a perfect score of 100 in Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Schoolmate Saiesha Kumar also scored 100 in Physics, Chemistry, Biology, as well as in Psychology.
Varun said: “Honestly speaking, the news is yet to sink in. I have been very systematic with my studies right from the beginning and hoped to do very well. But this 99.5 per cent would not have been possible without the continued support of my teachers and parents.”
Menon added: “We are once again elated with the outstanding performance of our ISC and ICSE students who outperformed the previous batches. The consistency in record-breaking results for the last four years reflects the collaborative efforts of our resilient students, individual attention by our committed teachers and the support of parents.”
Strongest-ever performance
GEMS Modern Academy in Dubai obtained a 100 per cent pass rate for ISC, with a batch average of 93.81 per cent — the highest in its 34-year history. Diya Bansal, Anushri Mittal and Medhansh Hinduja were the school’s ISC toppers with a near-perfect score of 99.5 per cent.
Anushri was the valedictorian for her grade and has received acceptance for the computer science course at University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (USA) and University College London. Medhansh will be attending University of Waterloo, Canada. Diya meanwhile will be pursuing computer science at Cornell University (USA). “The two most important things for me are the consistency of the support system provided by GEMS Modern Academy and my parents,” Diya said.
Nargish Khambatta, Principal of GEMS Modern Academy and Vice President — Education at GEMS Education, said: “Every single child is a topper for having just gone through the year. To put their performance in perspective, our children were thrust into distance and hybrid learning and assessments, vacillating from virtual simulations to real lab experiments, and yet everyone expected so much from the batch of 2020-21.”
Rising results
At JSS International School in Dubai, the pass rate was 100 per cent for ISC, with a school average of 91.71 per cent (a 4.1 per cent jump on last academic year). Ria Rakesh Chaudhary was the school topper with 98.25 per cent.
Speaking about JSS, principal Lata Nakra said: “This excellent result is a befitting reward for the synergic efforts of the diligent students, dedicated school faculty and ever supportive parents … Students’ determination and resilience and their effort and right mindset paid off and has already put them in a strong position to face uncertainties and fluctuating situations.”
Awaiting full ICSE scores
Principals of all three ICSE schools in Dubai said in a joint statement: “This year, in all three Dubai ICSE schools, some students have not got their marks in some subjects and hence they are writing to the CISCE council for clarity. As soon as the council responds, the individual school averages will be declared.”
Chance for recourse
Gerry Arathoon, the CISCE chief executive and secretary, said: “While devising the methodology for computing marks, the endeavour was to ensure fairness to all candidates concerned to the best possible extent … I would like to place on record my most sincere appreciation and indebtedness to all the heads of schools who have worked in unison and close cooperation with the CISCE to ensure successful completion of the compilation of the results.”
Arathoon had on Friday said that if a student has any objection regarding the computation of marks, he or she can make a written application to the school, stating the objection in detail and its reasons. The last date for forwarding such requests to CISCE is August 1.
Given “the exceptional circumstances” under which the results have been prepared, the CISCE will not be publishing the Merit Lists this year.
