In today’s competitive world, every parent wants to see their child excel, which is why they want to give their child the best education from the top schools. Parents in the city of Hyderabad are on the constant lookout for admissions of their ward into the top international schools in the city because of the standards that are set in such schools. Boards like IGCSE (International General Certificate of Secondary Education) and CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) have seen a clash in importance, all though CBSE is followed primarily by most schools all over India, the IGCSE has also gained recent popularity due to International approval of this board by schools like the Cambridge International School.IGCSE Board
IGCSE board gives more importance to a student-centric educational approach and is externally set, marked and has certificated examinations from the University of Cambridge. Being student-centric, the IGCSE board is focused primarily on knowledge and creative learning techniques for the student. As compared to CBSE, the IGCSE board offers a more practical learning approach rather than a theoretical approach, thus making the syllabus and exams tougher but at the same time more interesting. IGCSE conducts examinations like Cambridge Primary for students between the age of 5 to 11 years and Secondary 1 and 2. Approximately 200 schools in India have been following the norms of this board, but in recent times it has started gaining more popularity due to the International recognitions and the challenging aspect of the board, which makes students competition-ready. Upon completion of the course, students can apply to foreign universities and will find the transition into the university’s curriculum much easier due to the exposure to international standards of teaching. The IGCSE curriculum pays more importance to English and technical subjects and is considered a very good option for NRIs, whose parents live abroad, or those who wish to study abroad in the future. Most of the schools following the IGCSE board are in the south, and there are several schools following the IGCSE board in Hyderabad. The IGCSE board is not focused on clearing domestic Indian examinations, but it pays more attention to preparing students for international; studies by giving them an exposure of the methods of teaching followed there.CBSE Board
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is an educational board approved by and recognized by the Govt. of India thus; it sees a nationwide acceptance from schools. CBSE is the most widely followed and the most popular educational board and provides a platform for both English and Hindi medium students to learn, as Hindi is the national language of India while English is accepted internationally. The CBSE board follows the NCERT curriculum all over India and offers a competency based approach to education. Lately CBSE has been training teachers in different methodologies to track the improvement of students and help them with constructive feedback. The board also relies on various technological tools to make the teaching process interesting. From focusing on theoretical knowledge the board is now focusing on developing critical thinking skills. CBSE conducts the All India Secondary School Examination (AISSE) for class 10th and All India Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (AISSCE) for class 12th students. There are also several top CBSE schools in Hyderabad, just like IGCSE schools that go beyond the curriculum to provide better and much-needed practical experience for their students as CBSE is considered to be more useful to compete in domestic competitive exams in India but doesn’t prepare for international exposure like IGCSE does.
In the end, what is more important is the teachers and the school as with proper guidance, a board of education helps successfully impart education, without good teachers, who are the ones who make use of the curriculum set by the board to teach the children, any board is likely to fail and be deemed as unsuccessful in the country. IGCSE board is relatively new and less widespread when compared to CBSE but if good teachers are there in the schools that follow the IGCSE board, the country’s education system would benefit a lot as students who want to study abroad will get the necessary preparation at an early stage and the country’s international exposure of a young age group which is quite low at the moment will increase manifolds. Global Indian International School or GIIS is one of the top international schools in Hyderabad and the school has been ranked as the number 1 school in the east zone and number 2 in twin cities for the last 5 years by the Times of India in its 12 years of operation. Being an international school and having an international network, the school provides IGCSE based education that meets the international standards of GIIS. For more information regarding admissions, send an email to admissionsofficer@arca.co.in.
