No. of girls taking Madhyamik exam see 11% rise this yr, courtesy govt schemes

Kolkata: The number of girl students who took the Madhyamik examination increased by 11 percent this year. This has happened only because of a host of social schemes introduced and run successfully by the Mamata Banerjee government, experts feel.

Smooth implementations of various schemes, including Kanyashree, Khadya Sathi, and many others not only checked the school dropout rate among girl students but also encouraged people among the unprivileged section to send their daughters to schools. Around 6,09,868 girl candidates appeared for the Madhyamik examination this year against 5,53,573 in 2021. The figure stood at 5,15,772 in 2020. The number of girl candidates appearing for the Madhyamik, the first board exam, has been increasing in the state. The success rate among the girls remained at 85 percent this year. The figure in case of boys is little higher as 88.59 percent of students in this category cleared the exam. Around 4,88,907 boys appeared in this year's exam.

Kalyanmoy Ganguly, the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) president, said: "Facts indicate that there is a growing urge among people not only to send girl students to schools among the entire cross section of society but also to ensure their study at least up to the secondary level. However, the success percentage among girls is a little low but I hope they will soon catch up with the boys."

The state has also seen an overwhelming success rate among students in the physically challenged category. Around 92.33 percent of students in this category cleared the exam. The girl students belonging to minority communities have outnumbered their male counterparts. "I am proud to mention that like previous years, female Muslim candidates have outnumbered their male counterparts. It shows a positive trend among the female children in the minority community to join the mainstream," Ganguly added.

Around 2,00,385 girl students among the minority community appeared for the exam while only 1,21,036 boys took the exam. Kanyashree scheme, a brainchild of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, has immensely helped girl students to continue their studies. It has not only reduced school dropout rate and cases of early marriage but also made lakhs of girls self-sufficient. The Bengal government started observing the Kanyashree Divas to further empower girls.