Nearly every second boy who appeared for the Class 10 examination, conducted by the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) this year, flunked the exam, while the girls fared much better with 69.13 per cent of them clearing it.
Of the 2,11,521 boys who appeared for the exam, only 1,10,655 could manage to pass, registering a pass percentage of 52.31.
Of the 1,56,774 girls who took the exam, 1,08,380 cleared it.
However, the overall pass percentage of the class 10 exam was recorded at 59.47. In 2016 and 2017, the overall pass percentage was 72.25 and 57.50 respectively.
A total of 3,68,295 students had appeared for the class 10 exams this year, a PSEB spokesperson said.
Gurpreet Singh of Harkrishan Sahib Public Senior secondary School, Ludhiana, topped the exam with 98 per cent marks, while the second position was bagged by Jasmeen Kaur of Shishu Model High School in Kapurthala with 97.85 per cent marks.
Puneet Kaur, a student of Guru Nanak Public Senior Secondary School in Fatehgarh Sahib, secured third spot with 97.69 per cent marks.
Government schools fared poorly as the pass percentage in these schools was recorded at 57.85. Of 1,88,175 students of these schools, 1,08,855 students managed to clear the exam.
Schools in urban areas with 63.85 pass percentage, fared a tad better than those in rural areas which registered 61.22 pass percentage. However, the pass percentage of Adarsh and affiliated schools was highest at 72.66.
Mansa district registered the highest pass percentage at 73.76, followed by Muktsar at 72.39 per cent and Bathinda 70.12 per cent, officials said.
The performance of border districts was poor with Tarn Taran witnessing lowest pass percentage at 33.34, followed by Ferozepur and Pathankot at 52.33 percent and 52.92 percent respectively.