Schooling in India

Schooling in India is an expensive proposition. There are various boards that conduct exams (Xth and XIIth) in India:

CBSE Board

CISCE/ICSE Board

State Boards of India

Now you must be wondering which board is better? Varying level of evaluation between state and central boards makes it difficult to assess which board to opt for. In each state majority of states are affiliated to the state board while a few are affiliated to CBSE and ICSE board. However, best schools in India are affiliated to ICSE– Welhams, Doon, Mayo, CJM, etc. Some students may find ICSE board difficult. CBSE system provides uniform learning across India and is suitable for children of employees with transferable jobs. Some students also hold the opinion that entrance exams like engineering and medical are more closely modeled on CBSE syllabus.

Major concerns that are related to schooling and examination system in India can be sumarized as:

• There is thin line between what is taught and what is learnt. A change from mugging to applying is required.
• The percentage scored determines student’s admission to a university or employment. There should be inclusion of other means of evaluation based on extra curricular activities.
• A recent World Bank survey found that 25% of government primary school teachers in India are absent from work. There should be strict enforcement of teacher-student ratio of 1:40 and the attendance of teachers along with students.
• Schools books seem to teach everything. There is a need for a general reassessment of curriculum of textbooks keeping the student’s requirement and applicability in mind. It involves decentralization of curriculum design involving more teachers and educationist.