View from the top

The bright red Roll of Honors in a school reception area tells the success stories of top-ranking students over the years. As I glanced through the names of the top rankers engraved in the colour gold, I observed that, over the years, the highest percentage has increased consistently.

This year the top percentage in the UAE-based CBSE schools is a whopping 96 per cent. This remarkable result is not confined to one particular school, many schools from different curriculums have also reported excellent results this year.

What has brought about this positive change? I posed this question to Dr Farook Wasil, Chairman of the Council of CBSE affiliated schools in the Gulf. According to him, the reason behind the progressing percentage is three-fold. "It is the synergy of the combined efforts of parents, teachers and students that has enhanced the quality of the results," says Dr Wasil.

Parents' motivation and support is indispensable for a child's progress. Dr Wasil believes that more parents now acknowledge this and inspire their children to excel. He also believes that today there are more faculty development programmes and workshops for teachers in the UAE than there have been in the past.

Experimenting
Teachers are also experimenting with modern methods of teaching, which has shown positive results. Dr Wasil also feels that the modern-day student is more competitive due to greater awareness and access to new sources of information. Children today realise that they have to be the best to survive the growing competition.

I talked to the top-ranking 10th grade students of different curriculums to know how they prepared for the board exams and what their success formula is.

Srikant Kelker from Our Own English High School, Dubai, has ranked first in the entire Gulf for the CBSE with an impressive 96 per cent. Very fond of maths, Srinkant aspires to become an engineer. He is a regular student who studies about four to six hours each day. "I strongly believe in practice. Solving the past 10 years' papers gave me speed and accuracy." Besides excelling in academics, Srinkant is good at public speaking too. Cricket is his favourite sport and you could see him playing in the field with his friends during the exam period also.

Neha Malhotra did not stop partying or watching TV either. Yet she is a close second to Srinkant with 95.4 per cent and deserves credit for being the top-ranking girl in the Gulf.

Credit
v