Section 7b: Choosing school type & curricula

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By Rajkamal Rao 


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Choosing school type 

Depending upon the age of your children, you will first have to make a decision as to which curriculum is best for your child:  State boards, Central board, CICSE or IGCSE Cambridge.

Then, you will have to decide what type of school you want your child to go to.  The natural inclination is to send kids to “International” schools which are marketed to emulate a US private or public school - replete with small class sizes, a stress on project-based instruction (instead of rote learning) and an emphasis on extra-curricular activities (some schools go over-board here offering children exotic experiences such as horse riding). 

Or you could decide on a local/national school which is designed for domestic students.  Or a school that’s in between.  And to further complicate choices, there are day or boarding schools which offer a combination of the above types.

Choosing school curricula  

India offers a wide choice in school curricula - from state boards to central boards to internationally recognized curricula -leaving students and parents to design a program to meet their needs.  Choice can also be challenging because not all features that a family wants may be available in a particular program. 

For example, central board education has the benefit of a national curriculum but there may be onerous second language requirements for older children.  If you want a more refined school experience - such as the ability to choose electives for high school students - there are other variations such as CICSE and IGCSE Cambridge.  But these programs are offered by fewer schools and may not be universally accepted by colleges in India or abroad.

We cover CBSE and CICSE in separate posts.

Section 7c2:  Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)
Section 7c3:  Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations

State Boards

India has 28 states and 7 union territories, and each has its own secondary school certificate program.  State boards have the widest representation amongst Indian students.  You probably attended state boards yourself when growing up and followed that up with a two year pre-university curriculum. 

The curriculum is designed to play to the lowest common denominator of students and educate large populations to minimum standards.  Enrollment is vast and an entitlement because no student is turned away from the program.  States promote their languages by offering the entire program in the language of the state, or requiring students to learn the state’s language as a second language.  Because the standards are designed by state bureaucracies, topics probably have not changed in two decades. 

For these reasons, most successful returnees don’t consider state boards to be appropriate for their children. 

International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE)

Cambridge IGCSE is an international curriculum for 14-16 year olds.  Over 70 subjects are available, including more than 30 language courses, offering a variety of routes for learners of different abilities. Schools can offer any combination of subjects. Each subject is certificated separately.

The number of schools where the IGCSE curriculum is offered is limited.  Only about 200 schools in India are authorized Cambridge International Centres.  This limits the appeal of IGCSE to most students.