He Scored Just 24 In Chemistry Board Exam. It Didn't Stop Him From Becoming...

"Life is much more than board results," tweeted Indian Administration Service officer Nitin Sangwan on Tuesday - a day after CBSE declared Class 12 results. The IAS officer reiterated his message by sharing his own Class 12 marksheet, revealing that he scored 24 out of 70 in Chemistry - only one mark more than the minimum required to pass the subject. 

Asked about what motivated him to share his marksheet with the world, Mr Sangwan told NDTV: "When I saw friends and family members disappointed at scoring low marks, it struck me that my haalat (condition) was worse than theirs. The idea behind sharing my marksheet on social media was to let them know that if I could do this much in life, so can they."

Mr Sangwan's tweet has been 'liked' and 'retweeted' thousands of times on social media, with many thanking him for the message of encouragement he shared with students. 

"In my 12th exams, I got 24 marks in Chemistry - just 1 mark above passing marks. But that didn't decide what I wanted from my life," he wrote while sharing his Class 12 marksheet. "Don't bog down kids with burden of marks."

In my 12th exams, I got 24 marks in Chemistry - just 1 mark above passing marks. But that didn't decide what I wanted from my life

Don't bog down kids with burden of marks

Life is much more than board results

Let results be an opportunity for introspection & not for criticism pic.twitter.com/wPNoh9A616

— Nitin Sangwan, IAS (@nitinsangwan) July 13, 2020

Talking to NDTV, the IAS officer said that Class 12 and 10 exams represent a milestone in life, but they don't decide your future. "This is the message I wanted to convey with my tweet," he said. "Ek baar gir gaye hain app life mein toh koi badi baat nahi hai, aap uth ke bhaag sakte hain (It's not a big deal if you fall in life, you can always get up and run again)."

Mr Sangwan also shared the examples of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs - two of the most famous college dropouts in the world - to underline his message. "We need to understand that success does not depend on a degree or marksheet," he said, adding: "The final purpose of education is not scoring marks."

He also requested parents and other adults to be more encouraging - especially in the day and age of social media where students face pressure to score well not just from their own families but the world at large. 

"In our time, peer pressure was limited to the people around us. Today, students suffer under the peer pressure of the whole world," he said.

Mr Sangwan, an alumnus of IIT Madras, cleared the civil services exam in 2015.