international schools may opt for CBSE-I syllabus

Many of the over dozen international schools in the city may opt for the newly introduced CBSE-I (International curriculum) from the next academic year. While the most popular syllabus among the city’s international schools is IB or International Baccalaureate, followed by the Cambridge syllabus, however, many top schools in the city are now planning to step into the international school league by opting for the CBSE International curriculum.

Drafted by Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), the new syllabus will have all elements of the usual CBSE syllabus with additional sections in history and math. Even the mode of teaching and classroom exercises will mimic international curricula like that of IB. CBSE, which introduced the syllabus on an experimental basis two years ago, has in fact written to some of the schools in the city asking whether they would be interested in changing the curricula.
School principals who have got the intimation said that they are likely to introduce the same from the next academic year, 2012-13. “CBSE-I curriculum has proved to be quite successful in countries abroad. In India, many parents who like to give international education to their children, even while sticking to the general CBSE curriculum, might be interested in it,” said Usha Reddy, principal, Meridian School, Banjara Hills. Meridian is the first school to give its consent to CBSE-I syllabus in the city.

In fact, some of the schools which are planning to adopt the syllabus prefer it over the other popular international boards like IB. “The syllabus retains the regular CBSE standards and suites Indian students more than IB. Also, brand CBSE has better rating compared to other boards in the country and this is expected to draw more students for this syllabus,” said a principal who is currently examining the syllabus to implement it in the coming academic year. Schools believe that once they start a CBSE international division they will be able to attract more children to their schools.

International CBSE syllabus also gives students an edge in the competitive examinations. “Questions in most of the competitive examinations in the country are based on the CBSE syllabus. So, for them international syllabi is a better option compared to other curricula,” said

The CBSE-I course was introduced in the academic year 2010-11 had gained popularity among CBSE schools in countries other than India. Some of the countries that adopted the syllabus in the past two years include Dubai, Qatar, Muscat and Singapore.