Despite failing in his Class XI exams last year, Kannan managed to be the topper at his school, Delhi Public School, South, in the CBSE Class XII exams, the results of which were announced on Wednesday.

“I was a meritorious student till my tenth standard and then I decided to take a break. Coaching classes along with school work was too much for me to handle,” he says. Eventually, he started faring badly in exams. In the eleventh standard terminal exam, he failed in Mathematics scoring 14 out of 50. Even in his pre-board exams, Kannan didn’t get a distinction. He scored 69 in Mathematics and an aggregate of 70%.

Then, in December last year, he pulled up his socks. He took private tuitions for all core subjects of Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics and put in nearly 15-16 hours of study per day. Today, armed with an impressive 97% marks in Maths and having topped in the subject in his school,Kannan is happy and grateful. “I want to thank my Mathematics teacher Miss Mitra who has been a constant source of support and encouragement,” he says.