Cycle tests, months of prep, NCERT syllabus: ICSE, ISC high-scorers from Gurgaon share their success mantra

The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) declared the ICSE (Class 10) and ISC (Class 12) results on Monday, while announcing that it would not release the list of toppers in a bid to discontinue competition. While 99.47 per cent of students passed Class 10 exams, 98.19 per cent cleared the Class 12 exams, a CISCE official said.

Originally from Tamil Nadu’s Chennai, Aadith, a student of Shri Ram School, Aravalli, is a “well-rounded kid,” according to his mother Vaiji Raghunathan. “He plans everything well in advance and organises his day to make time for everything he likes — he plays the piano, is a footballer and also sketches. His teacher was telling me today that she saw him practising football on the day of his exam and instantly knew he would score well. He is a confident child,” she said.

Aadith, however, modestly attributed his success to his school, which had a “thorough system of cycle tests” which helped him prepare well. “There would be one test every week and this would help us cover the syllabus from the beginning of the academic year,” he said.

Jayashree Rajeevan, academic secretary of the school, said the last time someone had an aggregate as high as Adith’s was in 2020.

Class 12 star set to join Ivy League varsity

Another high-scoring student, this time in the ISC, is from the Moulsari branch of the same school. With a 99.25 per cent score, Tarini Malhotra is the topper in her school. Moreover, she has scored 100 in Maths and Psychology. She has also received admission in Brown University and is set to go to the Ivy League institution in August. “My favourite subjects are Chemistry and Psychology and I found the right course in the university,” she said. In 2021, a student had scored a slightly higher aggregate of 99.75 per cent in the ICSE exams, the school authorities said.

Tarini said she has been preparing months prior to the boards. “I studied my syllabus, practised previous question papers, and even covered NCERT syllabus just in case I had missed something. But everything went well,” she said. Her father, Sarat Malhotra, president and director at Nippon Paints, said the result did not come as a surprise to the family given her high score in Class 10 boards. “She had applied to many universities and received offers from other Ivy League colleges as well. It would be sad to see her leave, but that is a part of life,” he added.

School principal Ripple Sethi said Tarini has always been a stellar student. “Apart from studies, she runs an NGO called Nai Subah. We are extremely proud of her and happy that she is leaving for Brown,” she added.

According to its LinkedIn profile, Nai Subah “fosters diversity and inclusion, creates income generation opportunities, showcases talent and creativity and extends financial assistance to those who need the support, by means of networking, advocacy and fundraising”.

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