India has one of the largest education systems in the world, there are about 15 lakh schools, 40000 colleges and about 900 universities. You have the opportunity to choose any board that the Indian school system provides such as ICSE, CBSE, IB, State board. Making an appropriate choice is difficult because that will determine how you spend the major part of your life.
Therefore, providing you with a list of things you should understand about these boards and how this will help you build your career.
CBSE – Central Board of Secondary Education
CBSE, is a dominant board that most schools in every part of India offer. Nonetheless, it depends upon the skills and interests, whether this board is the best choice or not.
The CBSE modules are strictly supervised and composed. There are set curriculum and set a bunch of subjects that students need to study. The curriculum and examination structure focuses on the implementation of knowledge and skill-based learning which helps students to get ready for their future job. The curriculum also prepares students to appear for any Indian competitive exam.
- For class 10 students 6 subjects are mandatory, that is, English, Hindi, Mathematics, Science, Social Science and vocational.
- For class 12 students depending on the stream, they are offered physics, chemistry, biology and maths for science stream, accounts, business studies, economies for commerce stream.
- CBSE provides students to select from seven domain at the secondary level that is Mathematics, Humanities, Science and Technology, Physical Education, Visual and Performing Arts and Commerce. Several CBSE schools offer platforms to learn or practice public speaking, sports, entrepreneurship, fine arts and music.
This board inspires schools to help students grow themselves holistically and build skills in inclusion to the education they are acquiring.
The difficulty level of subjects and examination of the CBSE board is lesser compared to other boards. This is simply because of the fixed curriculum and lenient grading system. The teaching technique is simple and straight forward and it depends on mechanical learning. This board is absolutely suitable for those students who are planning to apply in a university within India for Engineering, Architecture or Medicine.
ICSE -Indian Certificate of Secondary Education
Council for the Indian School Certificate examinations started in 1956, is the apex body of the ICSE. ICSE is an institute of high-level learnings and it develops its curricula and culture to help students outshine in school and outside.
The ICSE curriculum completely varies from that of CBSE, however, the structure is almost the same under ICSE. This also adds a number of subjects and provides no choice in the selection of subjects.
- The curriculum is much more comprehensive and complex. ICSE also includes Socially Useful Productive Work (SUPW) projects along with other subjects.
- Contrary to CBSE, ICSE students are directed to take up only three subjects in 10th that is English, Second language and History, Civics and Geography. Science, economics, mathematics, environmental science, computer applications, arts and physical education comes under electives.
- In class 12, they are divided into science, arts and commerce streams and subjects and are quite similar to CBSE class 12 but, the only thing that differs is the depth of teaching. In ICSE subjects are taught at a much in-depth level.
- ICSE offers the same standard group of subjects with English as the first language, Maths, History, Civics and Geography, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and a second language. Each subject has 20% internal evaluation weightage as project works or internal exams, and in some schools, both are included.
- Most schools offer co-curricular activities as ICSE gives higher importance to the stabilized development of children. Several schools make it compulsory to volunteer in these to help them elevate a new skill by creating a habit for students. Some common activities in ICSE schools are sports, music and public speaking. Some other extracurricular activities that students can take up are scouting, social service, theatre etc.
The level of difficulty is much more complex than CBSE board. The standard classroom teaching methodology is practised by teachers in ICSE schools. Every subject is taught at a much higher level. Classroom sessions are also unified with lab work to give students an in-depth knowledge of the subject matter.
ICSE is the perfect combination of complex studies, overall grooming and extracurricular activities. If you are interested in a career in Humanities and Management, these modules can become a bigger advantage due to its hi-tech learnings as it focuses on language and communication.
IB – International Baccalaureate
IB is a pioneer of international education in India. IB schools over India are known to be acclaimed institutions that are great for a child’s development but are costly to enrol in.
IB does follow its designed curriculum and all subjects are combined into one other so that students can experience and acquire knowledge along with standard classroom discussions.
There is no allotted textbook as such that is used as a guideline for the curriculum. IB has 3 levels of education were the focus of education changes. The Primary Years Program (MYP) for 11-16-year-olds focuses on students learning the realistic suggestions of what they learn. The Diploma Program for 16-19-year-olds offers an outstanding depth of knowledge in the subjects they elect.
IB schools also promote extracurricular activities like sports, gymnastics, information technology, robotics, performing arts and poetry. For holistic development of a child IB schools frequently merges co-curricular activities into academics. Its curriculum is the most demanding education structure. Students are busy with quizzes, presentations, assignments and internal assessments all the time.
IB does not have a semester end exam structure but uninterrupted assessment, which compels students to be regularly in touch with their learnings.
To help students improve their sense of enquiry and decision-making, teachers who are also facilitators, they combine classroom learning, group discussions and self-learning so that they can explore every field on their own.
The IB curriculum prepares students for international education. Therefore, students wanting to apply in foreign universities have an advantage by choosing IB education.
State Boards
Every state has a different curriculum and is very restricted. It is mostly related to the textbooks provided and trivial variation to the NCERT books that CBSE follows. State boards also offer 6 subjects to their students in class 10 and bifurcate them into 3 streams in class 12 just like CBSE board. This board has a very basic curriculum that provides students with the minimum needed knowledge in every subject.
It proposes standard subjects like maths, science, history, geography, economics, and so on. The choice of the first language is generally the local language and English as a second language. State boards mainly focus on advancing basic education and on that account extracurricular activities are not encouraged. State boards are not so difficult compared to other boards since the syllabus is very basic.
Students have to totally depend on classroom lectures and their method of teaching is also very simple. Students whose main focus is to join SSC or HSC schools go for state boards so that the educational load is low and they can enhance their external skills essential for the career of their choice.
Thus, a student should select a board of education which suits their interests. Learn about each board and understand the right fit for you.
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