8.72 per cent increase in number of board-bound students

New Delhi, Feb 18 (UNI) More than 12 lakh students will this year appear for the annual Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) examinations, registering an increase of 8.72 per cent from last year.

Of the total 12,07,840 candidates, 7,05,152 will write the class ten examination, marking an increase of 8.11 per cent and 5,02,688 pupils have registered for the class twelve examination, registering a sharp upward trend of 9.59 per cent.

For the 2006 examinations, 6,47,992 pupils appeared for the class ten examination and 4,54,480 for class twelve.

''The numbers have shown an upward trend which is commendable,'' CBSE Chairman Ashok Ganguly said The examination for class twelve will commence on March 1 and for class ten on March 2.

Among all the class twelve candidates, 2,11,582 are girls, marking an increase of almost 10 per cent from last year when 1,90,904 appeared for the examination.

Similar trends were witnessed among girl candidates of class ten with 2,92,627 registering for the examination compared to 2,69,555 last year.

In the Delhi region, while 2,07,317 class ten candidates will write the examination, 3.62 per cent more than 2006, for class twelve 1,56,257 will appear, marking an increase of 7.06 per cent.

The number of candidates in special category, including handicapped and blind, from class ten has risen to 1,307 compared to 950 in 2006.

However, a reverse trend was witnessed among class twelve candidates in the same category. The number dipped to 825 pupils this year from last year's 937.

Among the total 2,490 centres for class ten, 643, including 39 in Delhi, have been declared sensitive.

Similarly for class twelve, of the 2,276 total centres, 489, including 30 in Delhi, have been declared sensitive where additional security and observers will be placed.

UNI