The results for the tests held in June 2009 were declared last Friday and Indian students topped in combined science, art and design, business studies, Hindi and English exams. As many as 230 schools in India are affiliated to CIE.
Prominent among the achievers was a Delhi boy, Karan Handa of British School, who topped in Art and Design in the IGCSE exam. Director of British School, Graham Ranger, told TOI, ``It is amazing that we have one of the world toppers in Karan Handa. He is also the India topper in Computer Studies. To be a global topper of an exam of CIE's magnitude is a real achievement. As a student, Handa has won many awards in the school.''
Indian students have been consistently doing well in the exam. While globally 33% of students get grade A (80% and above) and above, 38% of Indian students managed to get the top grade this year. ``The number of students receiving numerous A and A* grades in their examinations in India has risen year-on-year from 34% in 2007 to 38% in 2009. Indian students now rank 5% above the rest of the world in their performance,'' said Ian Chambers, regional manager for South Asia, CIE.
IGCSE is the equivalent of Class X boards in India, while the AS level corresponds to Class XI. Level A is equivalent to Class XII exams, in which the cumulative scores of AS and A levels are counted.
In the November 2008 session, Alokik Mishra of Choithram International, Indore topped in Accounting, Neil Surendra Satra of Dhirubhai Ambani International School, Mumbai topped in Mathematics (without coursework) and Ajay Ravindran of Mallya Aditi International School, Bangalore, who also topped in Mathematics at the AS level.
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Said Neil Surendra Satra, the Maths topper, ``The CIE curriculum is very good as it focuses on critical thinking, problem solving and application skills, and not on rote learning. Now, I would do my IB diploma and then go to the US, maybe to Harvard or MIT for computer studies.''
A happy Sathish Jayarajan, principal of Mallya Aditi International School, said: ``We have two world toppers in Sejal Pachisia and Ajay Ravindran. While Ravindran is still with us doing his A-level, Pachisia is pursuing engineering at Princeton University in the US. Pachisia was also involved in varied activities such as rowing and young enterprise.''
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