SHILLONG: After a prolonged wait, two schools from Shillong — St. Thomas Higher Secondary School and Little Flower School — grabbed the second and third position respectively in the SSLC Examination 2020.
B Palit, Principal of St. Thomas Higher Secondary School, recalled the time when the school first topped the Board examination in 2003 by grabbing the first position. Coming back to 2020, it was a long wait indeed.
On the other hand, the principal of Little Flower School, Sister Maria Ali, was elated over the school’s achievement in bagging the third position for the first time in the history of the school although students would make their way to the top 10 list but not in the top 3.
Second rank holder, Sainava Modak from St. Thomas Higher Secondary School, who wants to become a commercial pilot, said that he worked hard and his results were better than he expected. He will pursue a course in Science and make his way to
Germany and reach his goal.
“I love going to new places and I have nurtured this dream since I was in class V-VI,” he said.
“Corona will be history by the time he gets to Germany, as I will study class XI and XII here in Shillong. You have to be optimistic, cannot let go of everything, hope for the best. We have enough people who will come up with a solution,” an optimistic Sainava said.
Unlike most of his peers, Sainava is not intrigued with social media and said, “I am not interested in social media”.
His father is currently stationed in Nagaland ARTC and is not beside his son to celebrate the joyous occasion. However, Modak’s family is making sure there is more than enough happiness to help him strive forward for greatness.
Speaking about his school, Modak said that the school has many good teachers. On securing the highest marks in Mathematics, he turned to his Mathematics teacher for being helpful.
An elated Palit said, “We had been waiting for this moment for a long time. He has been very hardworking, sincere, focussed and has made his teacher and school proud”.
Commenting on the low pass percentage compared to previous years, she said that the year saw many ups and downs and because of the agitations, many students were affected. “During the riots,” she said, “I had seen parents waiting outside the gate”.
Students have been the worst-affected, a concerned Palit said while speaking about the pandemic.
Online teaching for students in the remote areas, which constitute about 30 per cent of the school students, has been challenging. And in addition, all parents are not equally educated, she added.
Palit said that teachers give chapter-wise assignment to students studying in classes nursery to class IV, which are provided to the parents after 10 days.
Although Palit is optimistic about reopening of schools, she observed that reopening of educational institutions this year is a far cry.
Meanwhile, third rank holder Ainamdaphishisha P Byrsat, from Little Flower School, thanked God, her parents and the school for the achievement.
Although she expected to drop in the merit list, Byrsat was surprised to find that she bagged the third position. She looks forward to go for medical studies.
Sounding sceptical about online classes, Byrsat said that there is a “difference between online studies and offline studies”.
“Nothing can replace the direct interaction that comes only when the teacher and students are in a classroom,” she added.
The principal, Sister Maria Ali, said, “The real credit goes to the teachers. She (Byrsat) is not a bookworm but she is perfect in every field; be it in singing, dancing or sports”.
In addition, she said the students are given lots of exposure through seminars, exhibitions and motivational talk every morning.