What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you think about the schooling system in India?

For me, it’s the NCERT books and the CBSE, for sure.

I’ve talked about NCERT books in a blog sometime back. Today, I’ll be sharing my views on the CBSE and how things are changing in India’s schooling system.

I believe as the world changes, educational practices must change as well. While we appreciate the good work done by CBSE in conducting examinations and organizing assessments, we cannot ignore to compare CBSE with International Board, which is gaining importance.

One of the most eminent International Boards is the Cambridge International Examinations (CIE). The CIE has set global standards for international education and functions in almost 160 countries around the world.

The next on the list is the International Baccalaureate (IB), with a well-earned reputation for high standards of teaching and student achievement. The IB has a presence in over 4,500 schools worldwide.

What makes these examinations different from CBSE is that apart from high quality education, they also offer regular professional development programmes at their schools.

But if we compare the above mentioned numbers with CBSE, the number of schools administered by them is close to 18,000, and 99% of it is in just one country – India.

There have been many issues with CBSE in the recent past, like:

• It discontinues the CBSE-I exams.
• It stops printing of books as this is not a part of its mandate.
• Also, the NEET (National Eligibility-Cum-Entrance Test) issue has gone to the Supreme Court.

Considering the above mentioned issues, the Board needs to have a concrete plan in action to maintain its reputation as it is still the premium examination board in India.

The Board should also consider introducing new things as a part of its curriculum like professional development programmes to give the International boards a competition.
What are your thoughts on the same?