Youngest matriculate fails to clear class 12 boards
By IANSFriday, May 28, 2010
LUCKNOW - ‘Wonder kid’ Sushma Verma, who holds the distinction of being the country’s youngest matriculate at the age of seven, has failed to clear her class 12 Uttar Pradesh board exams despite scoring an overall 61.8 percent.
Verma, who could not clear her Physics theory papers, however, is confident that she would be declared to have passed by the board authorities after a re-evaluation.
“I am quite confident that I will pass the exams once my Physics answer sheets are re-evaluated,” said Verma, who is now 10-years-old.
“The Physics marks are quite below my expectations. I am eagerly waiting for the announcement of the re-evaluation process and will apply for the same as soon as possible,” Verma told IANS Friday.
The daughter of a peon at a Lucknow-based school, Verma scored 309 out of 500 in the Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Siksha Parishad Board exams, the results of which were announced Thursday.
Despite scoring 61.8 percent, Verma was declared as having failed as she scored just seven and six respectively in two Physics papers and got 30 marks in the practicals, taking the total to 43.
As per the rules, passing theory papers is mandatory in the Uttar Pradesh board.
“A student must secure at least 22 out of 70 in subjects like Physics and others involving 30 marks in the practicals,” District Inspector of Schools (DIOS), Lucknow, Ganesh Prasad told IANS.
Like Verma, her parents are also quite sure their daughter would pass the exam once her answer sheets are re-evaluated.
“We have full faith in our daughter and firmly believe that she would pass in Physics theory paper by a good margin following the re-evaluation,” Verma’s father Tej Bahadur told IANS.
Before Verma, the record for the youngest matriculate was held by Patna’s Tathagat Avatar Tulsi, who accomplished the feat when he was nine-years-old, officials said.
Verma’s brother Shailendra had passed class 12 at the age of 11 and cleared the Scholastic Assessment Test and Test of English as a Foreign Language. He secured admission to a US university but could not go owing to financial problems.
Verma scored 78 in Hindi, 55 in English, 68 in Biology and 65 in Chemistry.
