New Delhi, May 23 (IANS) Girls, with 86.93 pass percentage, outshone boys at 77,83 percent in the Central Board of Secondary Education's (CBSE) Class 12 exams, results of which were declared here Monday for seven regions.

 
 The Chennai region chalked up the highest pass percentage of 91.32, a CBSE spokesperson said.
 
 "Chennai was followed by Ajmer with 85.5 percent, while Delhi stood third with a pass percentage of 85.45," CBSE spokesperson Rama Sharma added.
 
 The total number of candidates who appeared in the exam this year was 7,70,043, 9.85 percent more than last year.
 
 The overall pass percentage also registered an increase of 1.84 percent over 2010 and stood at 81.71 percent.
 
 According to the CBSE, fewer students got compartments this year - only 10.67 percent compared to 11.07 percent registered in year 2010.
 
 "A total of 72,084 out of 7,70,043 students giving the 12th boards, got compartments, against 74,523 in 2010," Sharma said.
 
 In Delhi, girls fared better than boys with a pass percentage of 89.72 as compared to 81.58 percent of the boys.
 
 The pass percentage for government schools in Delhi was 87.48 percent while private schools scored better at 89.71 percent.
 
 Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNV) and Kendriya Vidyalayas (central schools) in Delhi once again fared better than private schools.
 
 "The pass percentage of JNVs (96.52 percent) and KVs (95.63 percent) has been a lot better than the private schools. The private schools in Delhi have a pass percentage of 89.71 percent," said Sharma.
 
 Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit congratulated girl students for scoring higher pass percentage than boys in the region.
 
 "I congratulate girls for having performed better this year also. It is a matter of great pride and happiness for all of us that the children of the schools of the Directorate of Education have once again shown excellent results," Dikshit said in a statement.
 
 Amidst celebrations and loud cheers, Nikhil Pandhi from Vasant Valley school of Delhi, who scored 97.5 percent in Humanities stream, said: "I am very happy that my hard work was fruitful. One has to be consistent at the time of studying, focus on studies, and at the time of having fun, have a lot of fun."
 
 While some were happy and shared their success stories of 90-plus percentage and perfect scores with their school principals and TV channels, some expressed their satisfaction with whatever scores they got.
 
 "I am more interested in writing and even have plans of venturing into media. My focus would now be on preparing for journalism entrance exams in Delhi University colleges," said Drishti Banerjee, a student of Salwan Public School who scored 87.86 percent in the Humanities stream.