Mumbai (The Hindu): The Chennai region, which includes Maharashtra, reported the second highest pass percentage of 93.87% in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Class XII, results for which were declared on Saturday.

According to officials, a total of 38,466 boys and 30,789 girls appeared for the exams in the region. Of them 35,565 boys and 29,445 girls passed.

In Mumbai, more than 43% students of R.N. Poddar School in Santacruz scored above 90%, and the school achieved a 100% result. Saachi Jain scored 97.8% in the Science stream, while Harneet Singh scored 98% in Commerce and Gauri Kumar scored 90.4% in Humanities.

“This year too our students have made the school, teachers, and their parents proud with an outstanding performance. I am sure that our students will continue to produce good results. I am very proud of the achievers. They have lived up to our expectations,” said Nikita Bajaj, the principal.

Harneet Singh said, “I want to pursue Economics Honours and want to become an economist. My dream college is St Xavier’s and I hope I get admission. Extracurricular activities helped me a lot to focus in my academics.”

Other schools, too, had top scorers in several streams. A total of 156 students from Apeejay School in Nerul appeared for the exams, of whom 47 scored above 90% and 125 achieved more than 75%. The school had a 100% pass result.

Debajyoti Dasgupta, who scored an aggregate of 97.2% in the Science stream, said, “I was expecting high marks as my preparation was very thorough. I have always been a topper and my teachers had high expectations from me. I am joining Indian Institute of Science (IISC) in Bangalore to pursue a BSc and I aspire to work with NASA after completing my PhD.”

Avantika Srivastava, who topped in the Commerce stream with an aggregate of 96.8% from Apeejay, expressed her wish to become a chartered accountant and plans to pursue a BCom course with either KC or HR College in Mumbai.

At St Joseph’s School in Panvel, Ashmita Jain secured 97.2%, topping the Science stream, while Jasmin Kaur Dutt topped the Commerce stream with an aggregate of 95.4%.

Ms. Dutt said, “I am glad and satisfied that I was able to meet my expectations. I dedicated two to three hours everyday for studies.”

Tanya Thomas, the second topper from the Science stream with 93.8%, said that instead of pursuing a career in Science, she wants to pursue a Bachelor of Social Work course from Nirmala Niketan in Mumbai.