CBSE 2017 topper Raksha Gopal talks on marks moderation and gives exam tips

From being a CBSE topper to grabbing a seat in country’s one of the renowned colleges, Raksha Gopal’s life has changed in a year. She topped class 12 board exams in 2017 from humanities stream with 99.6 per cent, and took admission in her dream college — Delhi University’s Lady Shri Ram College (LSR). She had scored perfect 100 in three subjects and 99 in history and psychology.

A bright student throughout her academic life, at present she is pursuing BA (Hons) Political Science with minor in Economics from DU. “Many believe that toppers belong only from science stream, however, subjects in humanities are equally high scoring. Most students efforts are undermined as it seems that scoring a perfect 100, in theory, is not possible. But I did score well”.

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On college life

Talking about life after school, she said, “College life is obviously a bit different and difficult as well. But as you have entered a bigger arena, you have more opportunities to grab and prove yourself. It is a beautiful new adventurous phase of life”.

Marks moderation policy is not fair

When asked about the moderation policy, under which grace marks are given to the students in exams for difficult questions, she said that this practice is unfair. “Increasing one or two marks still sounds fine in order to round figure the score. But increasing 15 to 20 marks is a complete injustice for those who would have studied harder for the exam”, she said.

Not interested in UPSC civil services

A trained keyboard player and well-versed in writing and speaking French, Raksha was also a part of the organising committee of her college’s annual fest which concluded last week. Her interest in teaching reflects the fact that she is working for an NGO which teaches underprivileged children. Although she has not planned on what will she do after graduation, one thing is sure she will not try her luck at civil services. She said, “I would like to get into a profession which is related to the course am studying currently. I would love to teach at the college level in future”.