DAMMAM/RIYADH/JEDDAH, 27 May 2004 — If examinations results are any criteria then the International Indian School, Dammam, undoubtedly has proved itself as the best among all four Indian schools in the Kingdom and among top CBSE-affiliated schools in India.
New Delhi-based Central Board of Secondary Education’s Senior School Certificate Examination (Class XII) declared yesterday shows that the IISD students have excelled compared to other schools in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region.
In all 246 students appeared from Dammam school. Of them, 237 have passed, seven placed in the compartment list and two failed. In Riyadh 244 students appeared and 206 passed, 21 in the compartment list and 17 failed. In Jeddah, 288 students appeared, 234 passed, 38 in the compartment list and 16 failed. From Jubail. only 16 students appeared and one failed.
Neetu Mathew of IISD bagged the first position among Indian schools in the Kingdom with an aggregate of 93.2 percent, while Riyadh’s Anisha Varkey Paul came second with 92.2 percent and Sneha Mathai with 92 percent came third.
The top three positions in IISD were taken by Neetu Mathew with 93.2 percent, Sneha Mathai 92 percent and Shirin Shaikh 91 percent. In IISR the top three finishers were Anisha Varkey Paul with 92.2 percent, Nadeen Najeeb Goni 91.2 percent and Asrar Ali Khan 88.8 percent.
Jeddah’s Husain Khojim Fatakdawala with 87.2 percent, Aiman Syed Javed Mahm with 86 percent and Taher Khojim Fatakdawala with 85.8 percent were the top three students.
A comparative analysis of the results of the four schools shows that while there are three students from IISD who scored 90 percent and above, in Riyadh two students were in that category, while there was none in Jeddah. Eighty percent and above marks were scored by 38 students in Dammam, and 22 and 19 students from Riyadh and Jeddah schools respectively.
IISD Principal Muhammad Anwar said: “This is a remarkable achievement in view of the universal admission policy.”
More than 30,000 students study at the four Indian schools in the Kingdom.
In Riyadh, Muhammad Niaz Ahmed Khan, chairman of IISR’s managing committee, congratulated the toppers and said various remedial measures, including special coaching classes for the under-achievers were responsible for the 93 percent rate of success.
The results were reviewed at a meeting chaired by M.L.R. Jafri, director of IISR, Principals Manzar Jamal Siddiqui and Zeenat Jafri of IISR’s boys’ and girls’ sections, as well as senior members of the teaching staff. This year their students also secured the highest marks in English, Math, Biology, Chemistry and Fine Arts, putting them on a par with the all-India level.
K.V. Paul, father of Anisha Paul, told Arab News: “Anisha did not take tuition at any stage. Her learning was mainly from the classroom teaching of IISR teachers.”
Anisha had diverse interests, including reading, painting, drawing and knitting. She also won several elocution contests.
In terms of individual subjects, the top scorers from IISR were: Tanushree S.B. (English 92%), S.V. Girish (Math 99%), Nadeen Najeeb Goni & S.V. Girish (Physics 92% each), Anisha Paul (Chemistry 94%), Asrar Ali Khan & Nadeen Najeeb Goni (Biology 97% each), Adnan Najaf (Economics 87%); Hafsa Nausheen (Accountancy 87%), Masarath Feroz (Business Studies 92%), Glen Danthi (Computer Science 89%), Meena Syed Mohamad (Home Science 88%); Samiyah Syed, Salma Abdussalam (Physical Education 93% each) and Bazeedha Iqbal (Fine Arts 99%).
In Jeddah, of IISJ’s 288 students, 164 secured first division and 65 in second division, according to acting Director and Principal Mohammed Shaffe E.K.
Hussain Khojim Fatakdawala stood first in the school in the science stream by scoring 87.2 percent marks while his brother rather Khojim Fatakdawala scored 85.8 percent and stood second among the science stream students. Aiman Syed Javed Mahmood with 86 percent marks stood first among the commerce stream students and stood second overall in the school.
Among girls, Sana Asad Ansari with 85.6 percent marks from science stream students stood first, while Ahuja Rajendran scored 85.2 percent and stood first in the commerce stream.
“There is a remarkable qualitative improvement in the results during this academic year compared to the previous years,” he said. The number of distinctions has increased from 288 last year to 360 and the number of first division passes increased from 149 to 164. The number of distinctions in chemistry, math, business studies, computer science, etc., too has increased. (Input from Javed Hassan in Riyadh and K.S. Ramkumar in Jeddah.)
