Re: CBSE vs ICSE vs English medium stateboard
My bad, I came so late on this thread.
Sethu sir, thanks for starting the thread. Though it is an automotive forum, many member would find this thread more helpful than the automotive shopper threads Rated five star.
By now, your son must have been in 11th. Updates please.
AFAIK, from eleventh standard onwards medium of instruction for all the boards is English. So good communication skill in English is must so as to progress in today's ira , no matter which board the student studied till standard 10, unless the parents and the student himself is looking to make his/ her carrier in the field of retail market or local politics in small towns or villages which are yet deprived of good lifestyle.
Now, where does this 'good communication skill in English' is going to develop? Obviously, any school irrespective of board can develop it if supported by parents, routinely at home
My children study in ICSC school, The reason is that there is no good CBSC or state board school around. There was one private run English medium school of state board, 500 m away from my home , but the teachers were badly underpaid. (Rs 2000 as compared to Rs 8000 for govt. owned school in those days ) hence I deleted it from my list.
There was one govt run stateboard school nearby where myself studied, it was a very good school then, hundreds of alumni as class one officers, docs, engineers, CA, businessmen etc. However medium of instructions is semi - English. The teachers are well paid, but now a days there is growing political interference and teachers have to tolerate it obviously at the cost of quality of education. And I remember, how badly I or other friends had to struggle to pass out the TOEFL (Test of English as a foreign language)Hence I deleted it from my school.
There is a CBSC school @5km from my home. But I found lack of proper building and playground and other facilities. Also teachers in the school communicated with me in local language when I was trying to communicate in English with them hence I deleted that school also.
I took admission for my children in a ICSC school located 25 km from my home.Reasons -
1)Teachers encourage communication in English & 2) discourage use of any other language during breaks and extracurricular activities too, ofcourse this needs supplementation from parents at home.
2)Infrastructure was good (school buildings, playground, audio visual aids,computers, infirmary security personels etc. )
3) School management 's reputation, (school is 150 years old and rated number one in Pune. In India, nothing is immune from political interference now a days, but this school doesn't suffer much as they are also supported by few good top politicians.
4)School has got a website, it is possible to communicate effectively bothway.
Only disadvantage which I feel is ' too much homework'.
There is one more CBSC school @25 km from my home near the present school, where parents applause it for minimum homework. Most of the home work is completed at the school itself but the fees is 3 times higher than the present school. I am sure similar effort is possible from present school if the parents offer them additional fees.
IMO, It is necessary to take admission in CBSC or ICSC when the kids are in nursery or KG and if we find the kid is feeling too much burden of the syllabus then later on at high school level we can shift them to state board. The reverse is often not possible due to inability to communicate in English fluently and questionable capability to cope with the socalled vast syllabus.
In fact syllabus in ICSC \CBSC is vast but it is not too vast. It is basically parents expectation that the ward should excel in all the subjects equally irrespective of the likings of the student. A student who loves sports or environmental science might not be fond of mathematics equally. But parents knowingly and unknowingly keep pressurising the kid to perform excellent in mathematics where the ward is showing excellent performance in environmental science and average performance in Mathematics. So it is an attempt on the part of parents and the student which gives feeling that the syllabus is vast.
It is the physical & mental health of the kids which is more important than the board So admit the kid where he feels good and the health does not suffer due to burden of travelling and syllabus and performance.
Also, a student can be shifted from CBSC /ICSE to state board at the time of admission of 11th std, if we or the kid feels burden of the vast and detailed syllabus. Whoever says that CBSC school is better for those who want to appear for competitive exams such as IAS\ UPSC etc. I agree it is better but not essential. If these exams are CBSC syllabus based, then even st ateboard student can also succeed, probably he might take a year more than the CBSC. And no rule says that these exams should be passed in first attempt.
State board student is not used to take on vast syllabus in short time span.
However, those who want to appear for exams where age limits are stringent eg. NDA, it is better to keep CBSC board throughout.
One drawback or advantage of the ICSC board is that it gives lot of importance to English language as compared to CBSC /state board. Standard 3 student needs to go through written and oral exams in 1)Literature 2)grammar 3)spelling 4)comprehension every term, which I feel too much for the students age. However once my children's English communication skill reaches to internationally required level (IMO, Std 10 of ICSC) I might shift them to state board if they tell me that they are feeling burden of syllabus.
@mods, please edit the title, CBSC vs ICSE vs Stateboard English medium schools.
Obviously, distance from home is one of the decisive factor provided all other things mentioned above in bold while choosing school for my children are equal irrespective of board.
Fully agree with honorable member MU here. Fellow TAIger 'The Xover' is missed sorely here.