Thiruvananthapuram: Even though the SSLC examination no longer follows the rank system, this year’s result declaration on Friday turned into a nostalgic full-circle moment for Sharmila Mary Joseph, Principal Secretary of the Departments of General and Higher Education. Exactly four decades ago, she stood among the State’s top performers in the same examination, securing the third rank in Kerala.

A former student of Holy Angels' ISC School, Sharmila scored 580 marks out of 600 in the 1986 SSLC examination. Interestingly, girls secured all three top ranks that year. She later studied medicine, earning her MBBS degree before clearing the IAS examination in 1997 while pursuing her MD.

Now serving as Principal Secretary of the Departments of General and Higher Education, Sharmila was recently given additional charge of the General Education Department as well. Traditionally, SSLC results in Kerala are announced by the Education Minister. But with the State yet to appoint a new minister during the transition to the incoming government, the responsibility of declaring this year's results fell to her.

“I had never expected such an opportunity. I am extremely happy,” Sharmila Mary Joseph said. Looking back on her student days, she recalled preparing meticulously for her examinations and nurturing hopes of securing an SSLC rank. Director of General Education N S K Umesh, meanwhile, observed that Sharmila approached the result declaration process with the same dedication and precision.

Asked about the abolition of the ranking system in SSLC examinations over the past two decades, she was not entirely dismissive of the earlier system. At the same time, she pointed out that ranks had been replaced with grades following concerns that the system imposed excessive pressure on students.

When Sharmila appeared for the SSLC examination in 1986, the overall pass percentage in the State stood at 46.73 per cent. This year, as she announced the results, the figure has risen to 99.07 per cent.