The CBSE, ICSE and ISC results came out this month and the media, like every other year, focussed on the fact that girls had outperformed boys. Yet again.

Yes, girls have been consistently scoring better than boys, since as far back as 2008 at least. But the media can’t seem to get over it. Words like outshined, outclass and outperformed in the context of girls scoring more than boys invariably creep into most headlines and reports each year.

The Council for Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE) declared the results for the Indian Certificate of Secondary Examination (ICSE) and Indian School Certificate (ISC) examinations on May 18.

The pass percentage for girls in Standard XII was 97.49 per cent compared to 95.27 per cent for boys. For Standard X, it was 98.95 per cent for girls as against 98.12 per cent for boys.

One week later, on May 25, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) declared the results for Standard XII examinations. The overall pass percentage of girls was better here too — 87.56 per cent for girls compared to 77.77 per cent for boys.

The media reported on both the results, focussing on how girls had “outperformed” boys.

Reporting on the ICSE results, The Indian Express carried the headline “ICSE, ISC results: With 99.77 pass percentage, girls outclass boys”. A Hindustan Times report was headlined “Girls outshine boys in ICSE, ISC 2015 exam results”. IBN Live reported with the headline, “ISC, ICSE results out; girls outperform boys”.

This report by The Times of India mentions how girls have fared better than boys in the results. The Hindu, too, reported that girls performed better than boys in the examinations.

In all this, what everyone seemed to have forgotten was that the student who had topped ISC was a boy — Arkya Chatterjee.

The pattern was similar for CBSE examinations. DNA carried the headline “CBSE Class 12 results : Delhi’s M Gayatri scores 99.2%; girls outshine boys”, a Hindustan Times report again underscored the fact that girls have outperformed boys. The Indian Express reported with the headline “CBSE 2015 Results Declared: Girls Outshine Boys in Class XII Results”.

This report by The Times of India also mentions that girls performed better than boys. India Today also carried a report headlined “Girls top CBSE Class 12 Board exams this year”.

While girls performing better than boys, especially in India where female literacy levels continue to be low, is noteworthy, it’s not new. In fact, headlines and reports back from 2008 have the same thing to say. The Hindu in a 2008 report underlines the trend “Girls outperform boys in ISC, ICSE Exams”. This report by The Hindu mentions how girls outperformed boys in the 2009 examinations. A 2010 report by The Financial Express, “ICSE Class X, XII results out; girls outshine boys”, makes the same observation.

The trend carries on in 2011 in this report by DNA – ICSE results declared : Girls outperform boys, and in 2012 in this report by NDTV – ICSE ISC results 2012 : Girls outperform boys. In 2013 Hindustan Times carried the report “ICSE Results out : girls outperform boys yet again”. And, finally, The Economic Times 2014 report stated the same thing “Girls outshine boys in ICSE Std X results”.

CBSE results, too, have been reported in similar fashion for a while now. In 2009, Deccan Herald reported how “Girls outperform boys in CBSE Class 12 board exams”, in 2010 The Hindu reported – Girls outperform boys in CBSE XII results. The same was seen in 2011 in a report by Outlook, headlined – Class XII CBSE Results: Girls Outshine Boys, and in 2012, India Today carried the headline – Girls trump boys yet again in CBSE class 12 results.

In 2013, a report by The Tribune was headlined thus: “CBSE result : Girls ahead, pass percentage up” and in 2014, Business Standard reported – “Girls outshine boys in CBSE class 12, Delhi government schools best(roundup)”.

So, practically, for the past seven years, or so girls have been performing better than boys in CBSE, ICSE and ISC examinations, yet every year this is highlighted and reported on like a new trend. Almost all reports compare the pass percentage of girls to boys.

Does the media’s continuing focus on girls performing better than boys play into the mind-set that girls cannot do as well as boys; and when they do, it is seen as a big achievement, big enough to make headlines?

More importantly, is it useful to focus on exam results as a contest between the sexes?

Kavita Krishnan, Secretary, All India Progressive Women’s Association, feels it may be counter-productive. “One should try and understand the circumstances that are allowing girls to perform well in school exams but perhaps not so well in other competitive exams. I think that may be worth looking at, rather than looking at the whole thing as a competition.” She feels that it is superficial to look at it only as a contest.

Krishnan adds that a lot of boys are encouraged to concentrate on other competitive exams rather than on their Standard XII exams, whereas girls are discouraged from competing there. “This is the kind of bias that operates, saying that girls should concentrate on this and not on that,” she says.

She says that one cannot judge competence based on gender or the performance in a certain set of exams. “Tomorrow you’ll look at some other exam and say, oh, girls have performed badly here. That would be absolutely wrong.” She feels that whether it is an individual student or the entire gender, good or bad performance should not be seen as a defining marker of intelligence or the lack of it.

Ranjana Kumari, Director, Centre for Social Research, however, feels in a society where girls are always discriminated against, it certainly is a great achievement for them to perform well in these exams. “It’s up to the media how they report it, but given the environment and opportunities, girls outperforming is a brilliant thing that’s happening, also proving the point that they can in any circumstances work hard and do well.”

What troubles Kumari is that every year girls do well, outperform boys, but when it comes to jobs there is discrimination. “They don’t get the same treatment, even if they are the best performers.”

In this context, perhaps highlighting the fact that girls perform better than boys reinforces the importance of educating girls and ensure a level playing field for them.

M Gayatri, the CBSE all-India topper 2015, in conversation with Rajdeep Sardesai on India Today at 9, said one of the reasons girls have been doing better is because they are under pressure to be financially independent in the future, and only if they do well academically, can they opt for good jobs and secure their future.

But isn’t the continued importance given to the girls, unfair to the boys in some way? Going by this year’s headlines, it seems so. For example, a report by The Indian Express about the CBSE 2015 results had the headline – CBSE result 2015: Delhi girl M Gayatri tops exam, outshine boys in CBSE Class XII, mentioning the topper’s name. But hardly any headlines mentioned the all-India ISC topper, Arkya Chatterjee’s name.

Rukmini Banerji, Director, Annual Status of Education Report Centre, says every year, the board exam results get a lot of media attention but reports should also include an analysis of the number and proportion of boys and girls who sit for the board exam (both X and XII), especially state boards, numbers and proportions that pass and also the distribution of results by gender.

She also says that it would be good to include a reference to what happens in earlier grades in news reports. Banerji adds that ASER reports for the last 10 years that look at schooling and basic learning have found that within private school enrolment, the proportion of boys is higher than that of girls. Also, learning levels don’t show a significant gender difference.