Pune schools record 100/100 in ICSE results

Tuesday was a happy day for all the leading Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) schools in Pune city as they uniformly recorded a cent-percent results for 2011.
Aishwarya Bafna of St Mary’s School, with a whopping 98%, leads an impressive list of students from across the city.
Spot visits undertaken by DNA reporters to the various ICSE schools in the city revealed that the principals were beside themselves with joy at having recorded the successful
results.

St Helena’s School had an amazing 164 out of their 205 students secure distinctions (over 75%). School principal Vijaya Senji congratulated students and teachers, saying the teachers had worked hard, but the students  also gave their hundred  per cent.

“Special attention towards the weaker students resulted in all achieving first class. Teachers particularly strove for the weaker students so that they were on par with the others,” she said.
Reshul Surendra Dani (97.4%), Sakhi Adesh Bhusani (96.6%) and Nikita Nikhilesh Mehta (96%) were the top three in St
Helena’s.

Hutchings School too had a 100% pass rate. Principal Manju Bhosale told DNA that all the 139 students had passed with first class and Rushal Handa was the school topper with 96%. It was celebration time at Vidya Calley School in Sus, with all 13 of the 39 students having secured more than 90% marks and 24 students scoring more than 80%. The lowest marks scored were also an impressive 74 %.

At St Mary’s School, all the 186 girls and 47 boys who appeared for the class X ICSE examinations passed the examination with flying colours.   
 

 98%Aishwarya Bafna  tops St Mary’s
Aishwarya Bafna of St Mary’s Girls High School, Camp, who scored 98% in her Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) standard X examination 2011, aims at becoming a business entrepreneur.
Talking to DNA, she said, “I would opt for commerce rather than choosing science as I love mathematics and is totally in love with that subject.” She even scored 100 out of 100 in her favourite subject — mathematics.
When asked about her preparations, she said that she had started studying intensively only in the last week before the exams. “I was confident and always knew that I will be able to pull off the exams well and I am not surprised,” she said. About the pressure from her peers and family, she said, “My parents never forced me to study or were never strict. They always had faith in me and that confidence
became my strength.”
Her father Rajesh said, “We are proud of her as there is nobody in our family who has set such high scores.”

 97.4% 
Reshul Dani,
St Helena’s topper
Though she was quite happy that she topped in the school, the result did not come as a surprise to Reshul, who
has been a topper in the school since kindergarten.
“Regular studies and thorough preparation by teachers in school helped to achieve this success. Concentration and commitment matters,” she said. She aims to become a computer engineer.
Reshul, who lives on the Bibwewadi-Kondhwa Road, is a good swimmer and has won awards in debate competitions.
Her mother Shraddha said she continued with her extra-curricular activities, but never skipped study for a single day. “I was an athlete and always inspired her to take up such activities. She is a good swimmer. I think instead of last minute efforts regular studies matters. Even the school has the credit,” said Shraddha. Reshul’s sister Piyusha too was a topper from the school in ICSE in 2004, she said.

96.25%
Somdeep Dey, std XII topper from Bishops; Abhishek Bairy
second with 96%
Somdeep Dey is a quiet and reticent boy. He was almost shy to acknowledge the fact that he had come first in standard XII in his school. He told DNA, “It is a great feeling to bag the first position. My parents were very supporting throughout my preparation. They always encouraged me to study hard and give my best shot. I would like to pursue computer engineering from IIT in future,” Somdeep said.
Somdeep’s parents were also happy and proud. “In standard X also he performed extremely well and this time also we were hoping good marks. We didn’t put any pressure on him and throughout the year he also played football and participated in the extra-curricular activities,” said his father, Prabir Dey.
“I can’t express my happiness. He was a brilliant student since childhood. I can say today all his hard work has paid off,” said his mother Jhuma Dey.
Abhishek Bairy, who scored 96%, came second to Somdeep. He said, “I am preparing for the medical and would love to do MBBS from the Armed force Medical College. I feel the key to success is to understand the concepts instead of just mugging anything,” said Abhishek Bairy.
Headmaster, Bishop’s School, Joel Edwin told DNA, “We are extremely happy with the overall result. The children have performed better than last time,”

93.6%
Nikita Vinay Kumar, topper in standard XII, St Helena’s
Nikita Vinay Kumar with 93.6% marks tied with her classmate Aditya Sant to top the St Mary’s standard XII ICSE.
Speaking to DNA, Nikita said, “I am very happy with my result. My parents were always very supportive and whatever I have received today is because of them. I would like to pursue computer
engineering in future.”
Her mother Shamita Kumar said, “Nikita is a consistent performer. She always studied regularly and we are really proud of her today.”
St Mary’s School principal Sujata Mallic Kumar told DNA, “My kids have performed extremely well and I am very happy with their performance. The performance has improved from last time, and girls and boys have scored good marks in all subjects.”

93%
Mansi Wadekar, topper  at Vidya Valley
For the chirpy Mansi, the Vidya Valley school topper with 93%, it was the 2006 best selling, self-help book, ‘The Secret’ by Rhonda Byrne which kept her focused and motivated to achieve her goal.
Mansi told DNA on Tuesday evening, “I always wanted more than 90% and had pasted a note on my pencil stand, which stated, “Must get 90% marks” to remind me of the same.”
Mansi, who admits having studied 6-8 hours every day in the run-up to her ICSE examinations, said, “Basically you need to have confidence in yourself. I never put pressure on myself. I always took short breaks while studying.”
Daughter of a real estate developer (Mahesh) and a chartered accountant mother (Anjali), Mansi’s dream is to pursue international relations at Harvard or the John Hopkins university in the US. “I will join the Fergusson College in the arts stream and major in economics, before I plan masters in the US,” Mansi said.
Mansi’s mother Anjali said, “I am on cloud nine and very happy with my daughter’s success. She studied hard and deserved the reward.”

92.6%
Mrudul Desai secures 2nd in Vidya Valley School
It was zero-stress examination environment, not to forget plenty of out-of-box thinking, which resulted in Mrudul Desai standing second at the Vidya Valley School in her Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) results,
announced in the city on Tuesday.
Mrudul, who scored 92.6%, told DNA that she was extremely happy with the results, as she had not expected to be in the top three. Elaborating on her preparations, Mrudul said that she had pasted her room with posters of her favourite cartoon characters. Praising the ‘mind map’ technique taught by her mother Ranjana, she said, “It is a technique where science and social studies topics can be simplified by use of pictures and graphics. It helped me understand and remember lessons easily.”
Mrudul’s father Shrinivas, who works with an NGO, told DNA that they had created a fun-way method at home to handle the examinations. “We used to organise impromptu quizzes on science subjects over dinner. This used to reduce the tension and give Mrudul the confidence. She also continued watching her favourite programmes on television and was always in a happy frame of mind.” Having enjoyed reading her father’s law books in the summer vacation, Mrudul is keen to become a lawyer after pursuing a degree in commerce.

(Contributed by Bhagyashree Kulthe, Priyanka Naithani, Nozia Sayyed and Rahul Chandawarkar)