Medicine, engineering in sight as Bengaluru’s CBSE class 10 toppers sharpen focus

High achievers from the city’s CBSE schools are eyeing medical or engineering seats as they move on to class 11.Naina Kushawaha of Delhi Public School-Whitefield has started NEET (National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test) coaching with Aakash while pursuing class 11 at Sriram Global Public School.“(Choice of medical) matches my interest in biology. Plus, I feel it is a perfect profession to serve society,” she said. After taking a transfer from Hyderabad in class 8, Naina enjoys Bengaluru. “I ensured I studied consistently; that’s what mattered,” she said, after securing 99.8% in the Class 10 exam.Raghav Tiwari, her classmate at DPS-Whitefield, secured 99.6%. Continuing in the same school, he has joined the Allen Coaching Centre and is eyeing a JEE seat. “My father is in the IT field. I love coding... I picked it up from him and found time to code. I sometimes go on ChatGPT and ask for challenging programmes to crack. That has become a hobby,” he said.The students said sample papers and reference material helped them crack the exam. Their final percentages are the best of five and include skills subjects.Several students in Bengaluru secured a score of 99.2%. Many are inclined towards science. Aditya S Masalekar, a student of Hillrock National Public School, SMV Layout, said: “My parents are doctors, so academics have always been a big part of my life. Even though they’re in medicine, I’ve always been most drawn to maths and physics. My dream is to study aerospace engineering at IIT-Bombay.”Shaarav Vijay Girish of Daffodils Foundation for Learning said he has an inclination towards mathematics and science. “Apart from academics, I’m keen on karate. I hold a yellow belt in that. I also play the guitar. I’m curious about debate and puzzles and have an obsession with Lego — particularly, the robotics Lego sets,” he said.The other students who secured 99.2% include Jothika Lakshmi Madhavan Radha of Shishya BEML Public School, Aditi Doddavaram of National Public School-HSR, Niyati Sajan of DPS-E-City, Arnav Venkatesh of National Hill View Public School and Debanshika Hazra of NPS-Banashankari.