The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has decided to offer international curriculum in 50 schools across the country. This is supposed to be a pilot programme which will be extended to schools across the country after the feedback is obtained from these schools. This move by the board is due to the increase in the number of Indian schools adopting international curriculum through recognitions from foreign boards.

Pilot programme to understand the response

The pilot programme is intended to understand the demand for such a curriculum in the country. Currently such a curriculum is being used in schools which are affiliated to the CBSE in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

According to Vineet Joshi, Chairman, CBSE, the response for the international curriculum introduced by the board is on the rise in the foreign countries and in India too there are lot many parents who send their children to schools following international curriculum such as I B and Cambridge. He says that since the international curriculum introduced by the CBSE has met with positive response abroad, they want to introduce it in India.

Schools with foreign affiliation has increased

In India, the numbers of schools which are affiliated to foreign boards have increased over the years. The foreign boards include International Baccalaureate and the Cambridge International Examinations. In India there are 64 schools which are affiliated to International Baccalaureate and about 200 schools which are affiliated to Cambridge system.

During the 1990s the number of schools following international  curriculum in India were much less and numbered about less than 50. Now it has increased more than fivefold. Studying in such schools following international curriculum is very expensive. In such schools, the fee ranges from Rs 12 lakhs to Rs 20 lakhs per annum. Whereas in the case of CBSE schools that offer international curriculum, the fees will much lower as compared to the schools following foreign curriculum.

CBSEI- International Curriculum of CBSE

The international curriculum developed by the CBSE known as CBSE International or CBSEI is presently being followed in schools in other countries such as Singapore, Japan, and United Arab Emirates. These schools serve to cater to the need of the Indian population in these countries. The international curriculum by CBSE acts as an alternative to the IB and Cambridge curriculum in such countries.

The international curriculum introduced by CBSE, the CBSEI, is different from that of the regular CBSE curriculum. The international curriculum is designed in such a way as to provide an international perspective in subjects such as social science. For instance in that subject, the focus will be on international happenings such as world history, international politics, scientific developments across the world, etc. In the area of languages, more flexibility is being given to students the selection of languages. They have to learn English and Hindi or Mother tongue or any other foreign language offered by the board.

Will extend to other schools once it is successful

Vineet Joshi made it clear that they will wait for the responses from the pilot programme in 50 schools and then decide on the future course of action, i.e. whether to expand the programme to other schools. He added that the study material will be made available on the CBSE website and the teachers will be given instruction on how to handle the sessions and make the process of teaching and learning effective.

To meet global requirements

The international curriculum is a move in the direction of enabling the Indian students to meet the global requirements of learning. Based on the curriculum, the students in the primary level will need to learn two languages. One is English and the second language can be Hindi, or mother tongue or any other foreign language offered by the board.

In the middle and the secondary level, the students need to learn three languages which include English, Hindi or mother tongue or local language and a foreign language which is offered by the board. The list of foreign languages that are offered by the board will be provided by the board.

In the case of other subject in the curriculum, students need to study Mathematics and Environmental Education in 1st and 2nd grade. From 3rd grade to 5th grade, the students need to study Mathematics, Science, Art Education, Social Studies and Physical Education. They have also included Information and Communication Technology as a subject of study from 3rd to 5th grades.

While preparing the curriculum, it was made sure that most the important contents in the present CBSE curriculum have been retained and the new curriculum is in tune with the existing one. However, to include a global perspective in the learning process, a few new components have been included to keep the students updated on developments happening across the world.

Course expensive than regular course

The experts say that the course based international curriculum will be bit more expensive than the regular CBSE course. The chairman said that the institution can decide on the fee to be collected, but the board will set a reasonable limit for the fee.

The international curriculum is designed in such a way that it can open up chances for extended learning, development of perspectives, research orientation and empower people. It also gives proper attention towards the importance of arts education.

Will help students who wishes to go for UG courses abroad?

It is expected that such a curriculum will help the students who wish to go for undergraduate courses in foreign universities. There is a considerable increase in the number of students and parents who wish to send their child abroad for higher education and this is good news for them. Since this curriculum comes from CBSE, it will be accepted by the Indian universities as well. Still some of the schools in India that are affiliated to foreign boards say that parents who wants to send their children abroad for undergraduate education would go for IB and Cambridge.