Performance of girl students in the Intermediate second year examination proved to be a silver lining in the otherwise dismal results across schools in the Old City.Overall,the schools in the Old City stood far behind that of other schools in Hyderabad district and the state.
Conservative estimates indicate that of the total 53,886 students who sat for the Inter examinations in the city,less than 30 per cent hail from the Old City and surrounding areas of Abids,Koti and Nampally.Incidentally,located in these areas are most of the government colleges of the city.While the overall average performance for Hyderabad stood at 55 per cent,the average for government colleges of the Old City hovered around 36 per cent while that of private institutes was close to that of the city average.The performance of Inter first year students was not very different.College managements feel that there is a need for greater awareness about the importance of education in the Old City,both among parents and students.Students do not attend classes regularly.Though we send messages to the students and parents,a large section of the students are yet to take education seriously.It is also common to find students not appearing for exams.This disrupts the academic schedule and as a result brings down the overall average, said A Ram Kumar,principal,Gowtham Junior College,Shah Ali Banda.
The pass percentage of students in government girls colleges in the Old City stood at 62 per cent which is higher than the 49 per cent average of the government colleges in the Hyderabad district and only slightly lower than 66 per cent which is Hyderabads average for girls.The performance of girls in many private colleges was also found to be significantly better than that of the boys.Afsar Siddiqui,principal of the Falaknuma Junior College who is also associated with the Government Junior College For Girls,Maisaram,opines that girls perform better because they are more dedicated.Girls are more enthusiastic.They achieved a pass percentage of 69 per cent in Maisaram college, he informed.Siddiqui feels that boys in the Old City are lagging behind as many of them are forced to work for a living.Boys in government colleges are from poor families.Over 60 per cent of these boys work to support their families.They miss a few years during high school and are forced to give matriculation exam directly after class seven.This ruins their foundation, he reasons.