The minister also pointed to the expansion of 75 CM SHRI schools, which he said were integrating "AI-powered language labs and career labs" to better prepare students for higher education and employment. (Image: @ashishsood_bjp/X)A day after the CBSE Class 10 examination results were declared, the Delhi government on Thursday said its schools had improved their performance from last year by recording a pass percentage of 97.23% — an increase from 94.64% in 2025 — describing it as evidence of a “system-wide transformation” in public education.Announcing the results, Education Minister Ashish Sood said the improvement in performance, up from 94.64% last year and higher than the national average of 93.70%, was “not a coincidence but a direct reflection of the empowering ecosystem built” under Chief Minister Rekha Gupta.The gains, he argued, were visible not just in aggregate numbers but across schools in the Capital. “The improvement is systemic and broad-based, visible not in select schools, but across the entire network of government schools in Delhi,” Sood said.According to official data, 457 government schools achieved a 100% pass rate this year, up from 300 last year, marking a 52% increase. The number of schools where more than 90% of students passed rose even more steeply, from 529 to 924, marking what Sood called a “system-wide transformation.”Of the 1,88,460 students who appeared for the examination, 1,83,246 cleared it. While the number of top scorers remained relatively modest, 26 students scored above 95%. A larger cohort clustered in the high-performance brackets, with 540 students scoring between 90% and 95%, and more than 5,200 students between 80% and 90%.Girls continued to outperform boys, albeit by a narrow margin. “Our girls lead with 97.37% pass percentage, a matter of great pride for Delhi,” Sood said, noting that boys recorded a pass percentage of 97.09%. He linked this to targeted interventions, including a Rs 90 crore scheme to provide free bicycles to around 1.3 lakh Class 9 girls, aimed at ensuring that “distance never stands in the way of a girl’s education.”Officials framed the results as the outcome of sustained investment in infrastructure and technology. The government said it had set up 9,000 smart classrooms this year, with a long-term target of 21,000, alongside 175 computer labs and 125 digitised libraries. These efforts, Sood said, were intended to ensure “equitable access to 21st-century technology” regardless of a student’s background.Story continues below this adThe minister also pointed to the expansion of 75 CM SHRI schools, which he said were integrating “AI-powered language labs and career labs” to better prepare students for higher education and employment.In the budget for the year 2026-27, the government had earmarked Rs 19,148 crore for the education sector. “Delhi has moved from promises to proof,” Sood said, calling the results “the outcome of continuous investment in better infrastructure, innovative learning, and a strong focus on every child’s growth.”However, the emphasis, he added, would remain on building “a world-class education ecosystem for every child in Delhi.”Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd