Believe it or not, students from Bihar's madrassa board would stand high, second only to students of the ICSE board in Delhi.

Comparing the performance of educational boards across India, the HRD ministry has just released a report on student performance in various states in class X.

The results have the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination in Delhi topping with the highest pass percentage of 94.3%, followed by Bihar State Madrassa Board with a success rate of 91.4%. The Central Board of Secondary Education, Delhi, stands third with a pass percentage of 86.4%.

The report compares 2005 data across the country. Madhav Chavan, founder of educational non-profit Pratham, said the findings contradict the "stereotype that madrassas are religious training schools". It vindicates "the historical view" that a voluntary process of education that involves progressive elements in a society coming forward to educate the backward sections often results in a successful model for formal education, he said.

Unlike other boards with a large student base, both the ICSE and madrassa boards have lower student populations taking the exam. States like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal have lakhs of students sitting for the class X exam.