50 students find place in top 20 merit list; overall pass percentage dips marginally to 86.84%
Our Bureau
SHILLONG/TURA, April 7: Gorkha Pathshala Higher Secondary School, Shillong, scripted history on its 150th anniversary with Wangaal Lama securing the top rank in the Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) Examination 2026, results of which were declared by the Meghalaya Board of School Education (MBoSE) at 11 am on Tuesday.
Wangaal scored 585 marks out of 600, achieving distinctions in all subjects. Vishal Kumar of Embee Rosebud Higher Secondary School, Tura secured the second rank with 576 marks.
The third position was jointly held by Prajukta Roy of Seven Set Higher Secondary School, Shillong and Prinita Das of Pechon A. Sangma Memorial Public Secondary School, Tura, both scoring 575 marks.
The fourth rank was shared by Samdi Mukhim of St. Anthony’s Higher Secondary School, Nathaneal Mantre Laloo of Seven Set Higher Secondary School, and Wandarihun Lyngkhoi of Anderson Higher Secondary School, Nongstoin, all with 572 marks.
Jenita Pator of Sawlyngdoh Higher Secondary School, Mookaiaw secured the fifth position with 571 marks.
Besides Wangaal, two more students from Gorkha Pathshala Higher Secondary School—Aaditya Thapa and Sharat Chettri—also featured in the 7th and 8th positions.
A total of 50 students featured in the top 20 merit list, reflecting strong academic performance across Meghalaya, with both Khasi Hills and Garo Hills regions contributing significantly.
St. Anthony’s Higher Secondary School recorded the highest number of students in the merit list, with seven students. These include Samdi Mukhim (joint 4th), Ishan Bhatt (joint 7th), Kevin B. Pale (joint 8th), Ronit Biswas (joint 9th), Vivek Sharma (joint 11th), and Dasanbha Kharmawphlang (13th).
All Saints Diocesan Higher Secondary School, Shillong also delivered an impressive performance, with five students securing positions in the top 20 merit list. Among them, Nausheen Islam Choudhury secured joint 7th position, Shriyansh Joshi Adhikari (joint 12th rank), Reedhi Baidya (15th), Sanidahun Riialariti Nongkhlaw (joint 17th), and Zaynial Banshan S. Marbaniang (joint 18th).
Three students from the Pechon Memorial Police Public School in Tura secured rankings for the first time since its inception, including Prinita Das (joint 3rd), Tushar Das (joint 11th) and Pragati Gupta (joint 18th).
Although this year’s pass percentage of 86.84 per cent saw a slight dip compared to last year’s 87.10 per cent (including regular and non-regular candidates), the results indicate a marked improvement over previous years. The pass percentage stood at 55.80 per cent in 2024, 51.93 per cent in 2023, 56.96 per cent in 2022, and 52.90 per cent in 2021. Notably, with supplementary examinations, the overall pass percentage in 2025 had risen to 96.02 per cent.
A total of 48,805 students appeared for the examination this year, out of which 42,228 successfully cleared it. Among regular candidates, 46,635 appeared and 41,325 passed, registering a pass percentage of 80.72 per cent. Students from 792 schools across the state participated in the examination.
Among the seven districts of Khasi and Jaintia Hills, West Jaintia Hills recorded the highest pass percentage at 94.99 per cent, with 4,236 students clearing the examination out of 4,459 who appeared.
South West Khasi Hills followed closely with a pass percentage of 94.60 per cent (1,527 out of 1,614), while East Khasi Hills registered 94.17 per cent, with 12,264 students passing out of 13,022 candidates.
Eastern West Khasi Hills recorded a pass percentage of 93.31 per cent (1,844 out of 1,976), and West Khasi Hills stood at 92.95 per cent, with 2,218 students passing out of 2,386. East Jaintia Hills reported a pass percentage of 92.85 per cent, with 1,949 successful candidates out of 2,099 who appeared.
Ri-Bhoi recorded the lowest pass percentage among the districts at 88.04 per cent, with 3,711 students passing out of 4,215 candidates.
Over 76.8% pass SSLC from Garo Hills
Indicating a slight decline in the overall pass percentage from the 5 districts of Garo Hills, a total of 14,479 students passed this year’s SSLC exams. A total of 18,852 students appeared for the exams from Garo Hills with West Garo Hills leading the pack in terms of numbers (8,462).
Last year, the Garo Hills region had seen a record pass percentage of over 80% students passing through the SSLC exams which reduced slightly to 76.8%.
In terms of percentage, South Garo Hills shone brightest with 88.4% of students passing. The district though had the lowest number of students (1859) appearing. The next best was the district of West Garo Hills where 77.8% (6,580) students who took the exams sailed through. South West Garo Hills followed the top two districts and saw 74.5% of those that appeared passing. A total of 2443 students cleared the exams after 3,277 students took the test this year. A total of 2821 students took the exams from the district of North Garo Hills with 2051 sailing through for a pass% of 72.7. In East Garo Hills 2,433 students appeared from the SSLC this year with 1,760 passing the exams (72.3%).
There were a total of at least 9 toppers from the region with students from the remote parts of the region making a mark. While Mehek Islam from Hari Shanti School in Mahendraganj secured the 6th position, Emalton D Marak from the St Andrew’s School near Adokgre in NGH stood 10th. Deepjyoti Koch from the Nirupama Memorial HS School in Garobadha under SWGH secured the 13th position.
Two students from Sherwood School in Tura secured rankings while Embee Rosebud School’s Vishal Kumar secured the second overall ranking in the entire state.
