Foreign flavour at old schools in Mumbai - Rising aspirations for a foreign education are making many institutions — including Jesuit schools — adopt international boards

Foreign flavour at old schools

Rising aspirations for a foreign education are making many institutions — including Jesuit schools — adopt international boards

Soon, students of the 150-yearold St Stanislaus High School in Bandra will study Shakespeare. They will have to make presentations and do projects on his works. And to aid them, the school is revamping its library.
The school, which is one of the oldest in the city, is planning to introduce the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) curriculum along with the existing state board syllabus. The school is consulting the education commission, parents, alumni and the Jesuit governing body seeking approval for the international board.
“Implementing the international board at Stanislaus is a pilot project. If it is successful, we will duplicate the system at Holy Family School, Andheri, and St Mary’s School, Mazgaon,” said Fr Francis Swamy, principal of Holy Family High School, Andheri. Swamy is also the Jesuit province coordinator for education.
A resource person from the IGCSE board has already held an orientation for principals of Mumbai Jesuit schools in August. The school is considering implementing IGCSE in at least two divisions from Class 8 onwards.
Many old schools in the city that diligently subscribed to the state board are introducing international boards such as the Cambridge International Examination (IGCSE in Class 10 and A levels in Class 12) and the International Baccalaureate (IB) board.

Educationists believe this trend is because of the lack of application-based subjects in the current SSC curriculum. “Schools think of the curricula in international boards as a better system for students. Any board, when utilised properly and upgraded to meet certain standards serves well, but today there is need for a research-oriented and practical-based education and IGCSE attempts to achieve that,” said Fr Lawrence Ferrao, an educationist.
Rising middle-class aspirations for a foreign degree are also leading parents to consider international boards for their children. Christ Church School, Byculla, has already started advertising for the IGCSE curriculum, which it will start in January 2013. “IGCSE reduces the student’s dependence on tuitions and gives them a break from rote-learning. Many parents who hope to send their children abroad for further studies opt for international boards,” said Carl Laurie, principal, Christ Church School.
Robert Money School, Grant Road, will start the Edubridge International School from the next academic year.
Talking about this trend of city schools introducing international boards, Sudeshna Chatterjee, principal of Jamnabai Narsee School, Juhu, attributed it to an increase in awareness among parents. Students at Jamnabai school can choose either IGCSE or ICSE from Class 8.
Schools such as Utpal Shanghvi School in Juhu run IGCSE and SSC courses simultaneously and pick the best of both worlds. “We adopt the best practices from IGCSE and implement them while teaching our SSC students and vice versa. SSC students are taught structural grammar and percentage system quite early and we adopt a similar method for IGCSE while incorporating IGCSE’s vocabulary-building exercises in the SSC curriculum,” said Abha Dharampal, principal of the school. Utpal Shanghvi adopted the IGCSE curriculum in their school in 2005.

SECONDARY SCHOOL CERTIFICATE

The Secondary School Certificate, also known as SSC, is a state-governed examination. Lakhs of students appear for the SSC exam in Maharashtra every year.

The SSC Syllabus has seen several changes through which new chapters and study material have been introduced over the years. SSC has introduced ‘E-class’, a software through which a teacher teaches each chapter in a virtual classroom. In 2010, the Maharashtra government approved the ‘best of five’ formula for junior college admissions, in which the board could calculate marks of the best five subjects out of the six compulsory subjects to level the playing field for students from all boards. From 2013, SSC schools will follow a new syllabus which, the state government claims, will be more objective and application-based. The syllabus has been designed after studying the curricula from other state boards and the CBSE.

INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE

The International Baccalaureate (IB) is an international educational foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
Founded in 1968, IB currently works with 3,462 schools in 143 countries.
It is made up of three educational programmes

PYP: The Primary Years Programme (Kindergarten to Class 5)
MYP: The Middle Years Programme (Class 6 to Class 10)
DP: The Diploma Programme (Class 11 to Class 12)
IB is well-known for its Diploma Programme, which is a two-year curriculum with a final written exam. Students also complete assessment tasks in school, which are either initially marked by teachers and then moderated by external moderators or sent directly to external examiners. In 1998, there was only one school in Mumbai with the diploma programme. Now, there are 26 schools with IB Diploma courses, 2 with MYP and 10 with PYP courses.

‘Mumbai the centre of global education in India’

Ian Chambers is the regional director, Asia Pacific, for International Baccalaureate.

What is the demand for International Baccalaureate schools in India?
Data demonstrates that there has and continues to be a huge demand for International Baccalaureate (IB)-authorised schools in India. Approximately 40% of applications we receive across the Asia Pacific come from India. While not all of these pass through the rigorous authorisation process to become IB World Schools, it does demonstrate a high level of demand.

Are schools interested in shifting boards?

With PYP and MYP (see box), it is worth noting that Indian national and state boards and the IB are not mutually exclusive. National and state boards are taught through the IB curriculum frameworks at these levels. Therefore, there is not really a question of 'shifting' boards per se. In fact, the IB believes that our programmes should be inclusive and include the entire school. The exception is at IB Diploma (equivalent to Plus 2) where curriculum is more subscribed with external assessments - here students tend to choose between the IB and their local board as to do both would be too much workload.

What is the significance of Mumbai for the IB board?
Historically, Mumbai is the centre of international education in India, mainly because of the city’s attributes: international, outward focused through trade with the rest of the world and quick to embrace change. The universities in Mumbai recognised the advantages of having progressive policies to IB students quite early. Mumbai University and colleges such as HR College recognise that IB students contribute to courses and life of the campus through their engagement in learning, their ability to research and ability to study from multiple perspectives.

How many schools have shifted to IB in India and Mumbai?
With the exception of the original international Schools such as American School, British School, UWC, Mercedes Benz, there are now many more schools that have offered various choices to their students. Some only offer IB Programmes.

TOP SCHOOLS IN THE CITY

(In alphabetical order)

NORTH

Billabong High International School, Thane Children’s Academy, Malad Gundecha Education Academy Hiranandani Foundation School, Thane NL Dalmia High School Ryan International School, Kandivli Sacred Heart School, Kalyan Singapore International School Smt Sulochanadevi Singhania School Thakur International School

SOUTH

Bombay International School Campion School GD Somani Memorial School JB Petit High School For Girls Navy Children School Queen Mary School St Mary’s School (ICSE) St. Xavier’s Boys Academy The Cathedral & John Connon School Villa Theresa School

EAST

Bombay Scottish School, Powai Don Bosco High School, Matunga Hiranandani Foundation School, Powai Loreto Convent School Our Lady of Good Counsel High School Our Lady of Perpetual Succour High School Pawar Public School, Bhandup Shishuvan School St Gregorios High School Udayachal High School, Vikhroli

WEST

Arya Vidya Mandir, Juhu Bombay Cambridge School, Andheri (E) Bombay Scottish School, Mahim Chatrabhuj Narsee Memorial School Dhirubhai Ambani International School Jamnabai Narsee School Maneckji Cooper School Oberoi International School Podar International School Utpal Shanghvi School

NAVI MUMBAI

Apeejay School, Nerul Avalon Heights International School Bal Bharti Public School DAV Public School, Airoli DAV Public School, New Panvel Delhi Public School, Nerul Fr Agnel Multipurpose School Podar International School, Nerul Ryan International School, Khargar Ryan International School, Nerul

CAMBRIDGE IGCSE

The International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) is an internationally-recognised qualification for school students, typically in the 14–16 age group.

The IGCSE was developed by University of Cambridge International Examinations in 1988. Unlike many school-leaving qualifications, the IGCSE is not a group award or ‘certificate of education’. It is a qualification based on individual subjects of study. This means one receives an ‘IGCSE’ qualification for each subject one takes. Cambridge awards Outstanding Achievement Awards in the categories of ‘top in country’, and ‘top in world’ for each subject. Cambridge IGCSE was introduced in India in the late 1980s. More than 300 schools in India are Cambridge International Centres, with the IGCSE board Incorporating Indian culture in the Cambridge curriculum: In 2009, Cambridge introduced IGCSE India Studies, a syllabus that engages students with the issues facing India today.

‘Demand for Cambridge IGCSE is growing fast’

William Bickerdike is the regional manager, south Asia, of Cambridge International Examinations (CIE)

What do you think about the growth of CIE in India?
A Cambridge education is beyond purely learning facts. Instead, we support schools to develop students who are confident, responsible, reflective, innovative and engaged. The increasing number of students taking our qualifications in India shows that schools are aware of the value of this approach and the importance of an international education in today’s global economy.

What is the demand for the IGCSE curriculum in Mumbai?
The demand for Cambridge IGCSE in India is growing fast. Schools in India made over 28,000 entries for Cambridge IGCSE this year, a rise of 24% since 2011. 47 schools in Mumbai made entries in the 2011- 2012 Cambridge IGCSE exam series (November 2011 and June 2012) — a rise of 24% from last year.

Considering IGCSE results come out in August and colleges in Mumbai begin their admission processes in June-July, how does the board ensure students do not miss out on admissions?
We have a positive relationship with many junior colleges and universities and do our best to support individual students when admission issues are identified. Options to help students and schools are being considered. Some schools make entries in the November examination series, for which results are announced in January.

CENTRAL BOARD OF SECONDARY EDUCATION

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is a board of education for public and private schools, under the Union Government of India.

In 1929, the government of India set up a joint Board named ‘Board of High School and Intermediate Education, Rajputana’. In 1952, it became the ‘Central Board of Secondary Education’. From 309 schools in 1962, the board has more than 10,000 schools today. This also includes 141 schools in 21 countries. In 2009, CBSE introduced Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) scheme, to reduce the accumulated stress of board exams on the students. In 2012, CBSE decided to change its school examination pattern and composition. •CBSE will also allot 5% of every major subject, such as English, Hindi, mathematics and physics, on questions pertaining to the cultural, environmental and social ethos of the country.

ICSE AND ISC

The Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) is an examination conducted by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE)

The ICSE Examination is a K-10 public board examination for students in India who have just completed Class 10. Seven subjects are to be taken by the candidates, of which four are compulsory and students can choose from several options for the other three. In October 1956, at the meeting of the Inter–State Board for Anglo–Indian Education, a proposal was adopted for setting up an Indian Council to administer the University of Cambridge, Local Examinations Syndicate’s Examination in India. Indian School Certificate (ISC) Examination is a K-12 public board examination for those completing Class 12. Candidates must study English and Environmental Education as two of their subjects, and then may choose either three, four or five more subjects. Candidates must appear only through English-medium schools affiliated to the CISCE.

ABHA DHARAMPAL principal, Utpal Shangvi School

Their textbooks are smaller, but students have to read so much more now. They have to unlearn their older study methods, but once they get the hang of the new system, they excel.
 

 

ADNAN PATEL, student, SVKM International School

There are fewer students in class than in other schools. The teacher ensures that she asks questions to every student. In case, we don’t answer well, our teacher holds extra classes for us. We have weekly tests and also get to participate in national and international olympiads.

 

FATHER FRANCIS SWAMY principal, Holy Family School

Parents earn much more these days and want to provide the best education available to their children. It has also become like a status symbol to send one’s child to an IB or IGCSE school for some parents.