The pandemic, tension of the SSC exam, fear and losing practise of completing lengthy exam papers in three hours - 10,764 pupils from the Mumbai divisional board managed to get more than 90 per cent despite all this. mid-day spoke to two of them. Ayush Patil and his classmate Ojas Yadav, both students of Dadar’s Balmohan Vidyamandir, managed to breach 99 per cent, missing the 100 per cent mark by a very small margin. Ojas scored 99.04 per cent.

Ayush who scored 99.40 per cent, said it was beyond expectations. “I did work hard but did not expect to score 99 per cent. All thanks to my school principal, teachers and my parents who helped me cope with my nervousness and anxiety. I want to pursue the medical field, so I will opt for science after this,” he said.