Rural students outshine urban peers as Punjab Class X pass percentage dips

Chandigarh: Punjab School Education Board's Class X results this year presented a mixed picture, with the overall pass percentage declining from last year even as rural students significantly outperformed urban candidates and girls maintained their lead over boys.The PSEB declared results on Monday, with 2.5 lakh students clearing the examination out of nearly 2.7 lakh candidates. The overall pass percentage stood at 94.5%, down from 95.6% last year. The number of students appearing in the examination also dropped by more than 8,000 compared to 2025.Rural students emerged ahead of their urban counterparts by over 2.3 percentage points. While rural areas recorded a pass percentage of 95.3%, urban students registered 93%. Out of 1,74,958 rural candidates, 1,66,830 passed, compared to 87,914 out of 94,547 urban students.Girls continued to outperform boys, recording a pass percentage of 96% against 93.2% among boys. All six transgender candidates who appeared in the examination passed.The merit list reflected a broad regional spread, with students from Faridkot, Rupnagar, Hoshiarpur, Fazilka, Sangrur and Patiala figuring among the toppers. Several govt school students from rural and semi-urban areas also secured top positions.Harleen Sharma of Saraswati Senior Secondary School, Jaito, in Faridkot district topped the state with 646 out of 650 marks (99.38%). Govt school student Manimahesh Sharma of Govt Senior Secondary School, Chanauli Bassi, in Rupnagar secured the second position with 645 marks, while Riya Rani of Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School, Hoshiarpur, also scored 645 marks.Punjab education minister Harjot Singh Bains attributed the strong rural performance to improved infrastructure and teacher training under the state govt's education reforms.