Mumbai (The Hindu): The Mumbai region recorded the lowest pass percentage in the State in the results to the Maharashtra State Board (HSC) Class XII exam, which were declared on Tuesday. The region recorded an average pass percentage of 88.21%, while the highest was seen in the Konkan region at 95.20%, followed by Kolhapur and Pune regions.

School and college principals said this could be because students’ focus was diverted. “It is difficult to pinpoint a reason for the city’s contribution to the region’s low pass percentage, but maybe in the city, children focus on other things. Science students, for example, tend to focus on medicine and engineering entrance exams, with Board results not having much of a role in their future plans. Maybe exposure to different lifestyles and influences in the city could also contribute to a lack of focus,” Nilan Rane, vice-principal (Junior College), Ruia College, said. “Our results are good overall. Last year, we saw 22 students score above 90%. This year, the number went up to 26. Our average percentage is 97%.”

Hemlata Bagla, principal, K.C. College, said, “Our marks this year were better than last year by a couple of percentage points.” At KC College, the average percentage in the Science stream went up to 98.46% this year, while it was 99.8% for Commerce and 99.6% in Arts. “Once the results of other colleges come in, we will be able to get a fuller picture, but I feel the result has been good this year,” she said. She said Mumbai region’s low pass percentage could be because city students’ attention is reduced by frequent travel, which is not the case in rural parts of the State.

The number of Arts students is also going up, Ms. Bagla said, which is a good sign. “Earlier, students only took Arts at State board level if their scores were too low in other areas. Now, it is emerging as a viable option,” she said. Shruti Chheda, who stood among the toppers in the Arts stream with 90.15%, is from K.C. College.

“70% of our students hail from economically weaker sections (EWS) of the city, so I am not too worried about Mumbai region’s low pass percentage but just happy that the city, and our college especially, has had such good results,” Ujwala Zare, principal, Gopalji Hemraj Junior College, said. “Our Commerce average is 82% and Science average is 96%.” Another trend, she said, was ‘cream’ or top performing students choosing ISC and CBSE boards over the State board. “They tend to prefer these boards, which might have had a bearing on the region’s percentage too.”