Summary
It depends on education ministry whether Class X boards will be held after 2024: Council chief
A section of the better students from ICSE schools leave for CBSE institutions after Class X, the ICSE council chief conceded in Calcutta Monday.
“I won’t say it is much (in numbers).... What I hear from schools (across the country) is that some of the good students are leaving.... It is sad because CBSE is getting readymade students,” said Gerry Arathoon, chief executive and secretary of the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE).
The council conducts ICSE (Class X) and ISC (Class XII) exams.
Arathoon said the children’s “mindset” is that they would do better if they study under the CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) in plus-II.
“They feel in XI and XII they would do better in CBSE. That is not true. It’s just a mindset,” said Arathoon.
When Metro asked how the council intended to arrest this migration from ICSE to CBSE after Class X, Arathoon said schools ought to conduct parent-teacher meetings and organise orientation sessions for parents.
“I always tell them (schools and principals) to have parent-teacher meetings and let the subject teacher explain, especially science andmath teachers, that the syllabus is the same,” saidArathoon.
“You are providing very good education. Till Class X you prepared the students. So what is the problem? Why are they leaving? You need to have orientation programmes for parents,” Arathoon said while speaking to this newspaper on the sidelines of a council programme for school heads from across the country.
Arathoon said ISC schools’ insistence on strict attendance also makes some students feel other boards are easier to handle. “CISCE schools are very strict about attendance. Most of them are missionary schools, so discipline is there. They want students to attend school. Whereas other schools (affiliated to other boards) may be lenient.”
What he did not say in as many words was that some of the other boards allow students more time to attend coaching classes.
G. Immanuel, chairman, CISCE, said: “The people’s perception is that CBSE is the one conducting entrance examinations based on the CBSE syllabus. It is not true. In fact, the NTA (National Testing Agency) takes the common syllabus from all boards for its question papers. It is not based on any particular board. It is a combination of all the boards together. Therefore, there is no need for children to move from any particular board to another board. Every board has its value....”
Many schools following the ICSE-ISC curricula said a certain percentage of their students leave for CBSE schools after Class X every year.
“Some students who concentrate only on joint entrance examination and National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Neet) believe a myth that the CBSE will train them better. But the syllabus is same and ISC students crack these exams, too,” said Terence John, principal, Julien Day School Kalyani.
Rupkatha Sarkar, principal, La Martiniere for Girls, said: “All our seats (in Class XI) are filled with our own students. In a batch of 188, probably four or five would wantto leave thinking they would be better trained for engineering or medicine. But even there they find it difficult to adjust and want to come back to us.”
Damayanti Mukherjee, principal of Modern High School for Girls, said somestudents feel the “CBSE approach in Classes XI and XII is aligned towards competitive exams”.
Last updated on 25 Jul 2023
