Continuing last year’s tradition, girls once again outperformed boys and clinched all the top positions in the secondary school certificate examinations conducted by the Aga Khan University Examination Board.
As scheduled, the Board released its SSC Part-I and -II results on Wednesday within seven weeks after the end of the examinations.
This year, the SSC students sat in examinations in over 43 subjects in 22 cities across Pakistan from Karachi to Gilgit, Mianwali, Sukkur and Jacobabad.
The top three candidates scored over 90 per cent. Hiba Khalid of PECHS Girls School, Karachi, bagged first position securing 94 per cent marks. Maliha Ahmed Eesha of Nusrat Jehan Academy Girls High School, Chenab Nagar came second with 92.38 per cent while Syeda Kanza Kazmi of Al-Murtaza School, came third, in close competition with 92.28 per cent marks.
The overall passing rate for the SSC Part-I was 83.6 per cent with 15.6 per cent of the candidates scoring an A1-Grade. Meanwhile, the overall passing rate for the SSC Part-II was 91.6 per cent with 20 per cent of the candidates obtaining an A1-Grade.
“We are pleased to see a high percentage of candidates scoring excellent grades in the SSC examinations. While we congratulate all the candidates for their performance, we would like to acknowledge their teachers too for their hard work in providing relevant learning experiences,” said Karima Kara, Associate Director, AKU-EB, while emphasising the importance of effective teaching in improving educational outcomes for students.
The AKU-EB is committed to constructively preparing its students for future by providing high quality assessments along with professional development opportunities for teachers, she added.
Seema Malik, Principal PECHS Girls School, expressed her deep confidence in the transparency exercised at AKU-EB. We expected a top position for a couple of our students and one of them got it. “We feel extremely proud of Hiba. This success is a result of mutual hard work, integrity, quality learning and appropriate guidance,” she said.
“I owe this milestone to my parents, teachers and siblings who helped out at every step of my journey,” said Hiba Khalid, the first position holder. “My teachers always guided me to be focused, read up reference books to grasp concepts, and master the Student Learning Outcomes provided by AKU-EB,” she added.
Talking about the teachers’ role in students’ achievement, Ms Malik said, “It is important for the teachers to understand that there can be many possible answers to the same question which help facilitate better learning. With AKU-EBs guidance, we have been able to create a culture where students also take responsibility of their own learning.”
The second and third position holders, Maliha Ahmed and Syeda Kanza Kazmi, emphasised the importance of conceptual learning in their success.