THE BOARDS GUIDE

Nov 10 2016 : The Times of India (NaviMumbai)

 

THE BOARDS GUIDE 

By Pratibha Jain





Parents often face confusion while narrowing down on a board that will cater to their child's needs and aptitude. Read on to know the features of various boards to help you make an informed choice

Choosing from among the increasing number of high school boards in India often creates confusion for parents as to which will be best suited for their child. Today, all India boards like the CBSE, ICSE and the ISC are competing with international programmes that include the British A levels, international baccalaureate (IB), American advanced placements (AP) and Canadian high school qualifications. Additionally, each Indian state offers its own Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) which extends the choices for parents even further.

CENTRAL BOARDS
A pre-determined curriculum with clear demarcations of subjects under science, commerce and humanities is probably the weakness and the strength of Indian high school programmes. Indian boards are well known for their theoretical approach with high emphasis on textual learning.The indepth study of subjects of a selected discipline gives students a grounding in fundamentals which enable them to meet the demands of higher education at universities in India as well as abroad. The strong academic focus of central boards like the ICSE, CBSE and ISC is the ideal pathway for succeeding in national entrance tests to gain admission into competitive and professional programmes under engineering, medicine, chartered accountancy and management.

STATE BOARD
Schools and colleges that offer the state board syllabus are cost effective and less competitive. It is important to note that local colleges have a legal requirement to absorb a high percentage of students who complete high school from the state boards. Although there are several arguments associated with Indian boards, such as they promote rote learning, and that they are easier to crack than national level boards, the credibility of these viewpoints is debatable.

INTERNATIONAL CURRICULUM
Schools that follow an international curriculum are in demand owing to their focus on application based method of study and a small class size, which fosters a greater degree of interaction between students and teachers. The programmes aim to develop and encourage critical thinking, analytical skills, communication, investigative abilities, problem solving skills, team work and research-based learning. International programmes gain their strength through flexibility and diversity of subject choices. Students are exposed to a range of subjects under different subject groups and are given the liberty to choose one from the groups of science, languages, mathe matics and humanities.Moreover, students trained in this `thinking style of education' fit in easily with the academic demands of universities abroad. Additionally, because of the credits they earn for academic work done under IB and A levels, they save time and money while pursuing undergraduate programmes in the US and Canada.

However, students who study in international boards find it difficult to get admissions into colleges in India. One of the reasons for this is that final examinations for international board schools fall in the month of May and results are declared at the fag end of the admission process in India -in July August. Students pursuing international boards usually take a gap year if they wish to take entrance tests for joining competitive professional programmes.
(The author is a career counsellor based in Mumbai)