MARDAN, June 14: Waqar Khan of Ghazali Public High School Hathian, Mardan, has secured overall first position by obtaining 968 marks out of total 1,050 marks in the annual Secondary School Certificate examinations-2011 of the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE), Mardan.

Mohammad Bilal and Azeem Sikandar Khan of the Pioneers English Grammar School Marghuz, Swabi, clinched second and third position by obtaining 954 and 948 marks, respectively. All the three belonged to the science group.

Announcing the results during a press conference here at Mardan board offices on Tuesday, controller of examinations Prof. Farmanullah Khan said that a total of 46,307 students of grade-10 appeared in the examinations of which 30,096 were declared successful with overall pass percentage of 65 per cent.

In humanities group, Ayesha Amjad of Khyber Model School Pabbi, Nowshera, got first position with 836 marks, Aimen Shah of Presentation Convent High School Risalpur, Nowshera, second position with 834 marks while Safia Bibi of Government High School No 2 Hoti, Mardan, stood third by obtaining 832 marks.

Prof Farmanullah said that a total of 51,407 candidates of grad-9 appeared in the examinations of which 26,013 were declared successful.

He said that the overall pass percentage for 9th grade remained 50.6 per cent.

Mardan BISE chairman Hidayatullah Afghani on the occasion congratulated all the position-holders and asked them to continue their studies with renewed spirit.

He said that the board authorities had taken steps in the last couple of months to remove reservations of people about the performance of the board.