Anxiety and apprehension in the Shetty household ended with a pleasant shock when Rathnakar Shetty and his wife Prabha learnt that it was their little girl, Navya, who had topped the Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) examinations this year with a stunning 623 marks on a total of 625.
Navya R. Shetty, a student of SVS English Medium School, Vidyagiri, Bantwal, scored full marks in Mathematics, Science, Kannada and Social Science, and fell by a mark short in English and Hindi.
She secured 99.68 per cent overall, standing first among the 8.25 lakh students who took the examination across the State.
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She was visiting her father, a lecturer at the Government PU College in Malleswaram in Bangalore, when the results were announced on Thursday.
“We knew she would do well but are pleasantly surprised that she has stood first,” said Mr. Shetty.
Navya had herself not expected to top the exam. “I made sure I concentrated in class,” she said, adding that her preparation was “not extraordinary”.
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She is keen on pursuing science but is has no definite plans as far as her career options are concerned.
“We made sure we motivated her whenever her confidence [flagged]. Her teachers were also a constant source of encouragement for her,” said an ecstatic Mr. Shetty.