Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], May 16 (ANI): Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Saturday spoke to Haldwani student Arina Raghuvanshi over the phone and congratulated her for securing the top position in the state in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Class XII examinations, scoring a whopping 98.8 per cent.

During the conversation, the Chief Minister praised Arina for her hard work and encouraged her to continue excelling in her academic journey in the coming years.

'This is just the beginning. This start should not stop now,' Dhami told the student.

When asked about her future aspirations, Arina said she wanted to pursue law and represent India at the United Nations or the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). Appreciating her ambition, the Chief Minister extended his best wishes and encouraged her to continue her studies with dedication.

Arina also requested an opportunity to meet the Chief Minister, to which Dhami responded positively and assured her that a meeting would be arranged in the near future.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) announced the results for the Class XII examinations on May 13. This year, the board recorded an overall pass percentage of 85.20 per cent, marking a decline of 3.19 percentage points compared to the previous year.

A total of 18,57,517 students registered for the examinations this year. Girls outperformed boys with a pass percentage of 88.86 per cent, compared to 82.13 per cent for boys. Transgender students achieved a 100 per cent pass rate, according to CBSE data.

While CBSE does not release a merit list to avoid unhealthy competition, 5.32 per cent of students (94,028 candidates) scored 90 per cent and above, while 0.97 per cent (17,113 candidates) scored 95 per cent and above.

Meanwhile, the dip in the CBSE Class 12 pass percentage this year is a reflection of changes introduced in the assessment scheme, School Education Secretary Sanjay Kumar said on Wednesday.

The overall pass percentage stood at 85.20 per cent this year, down by 3.19 percentage points from last year's 88.39 per cent.

Of the 17,80,365 students who registered for the examination, 17,68,968 appeared, and 15,07,109 passed.

This year also saw CBSE adopt full-scale On-Screen Marking (OSM) for Class 12 answer-sheet evaluation, with 98,66,622 answer books assessed digitally in what the Board described as its biggest OSM exercise so far.

The Class 12 examinations were conducted from February 17 to April 10, while results were declared on May 13. (ANI)