Will a More International Curriculum Help Indian Students?

Indian parents who seek a global touch for their child’s education no longer have to look over the border.
In a major leap for India’s education system the country’s Central Board of Secondary Education has decided to go international with a brand new curriculum.

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CBSE has decided to go international with a brand new school curriculum. Above, teenagers celebrate the declaration of class 12th board results in 2009.

Indian education has often been criticized for focusing on rote learning rather than problem solving. Experts say the curriculum in most schools is outdated and disconnected from the actual world.
Randeep Kaur, education adviser at Plan India, a New Delhi-based children’s organization, said most Indian students learned only with the aim of scoring marks but never with the intention of understanding and enhancing their knowledge. “How many of them (students) can actually make use of what they had learned?” she asked.
The new program of study, called the CBSE-i will put less emphasis on methods such as memorization and greater focus on developing analytical and communication skills.
Although it will only be available in a handful of schools to begin with, should it prove successful, it’s destined to be introduced in a growing number of schools.
Anjali Chhabra, education officer at the CBSE in New Delhi told India Real Time that subjects will be taught with a more global perspective. For instance, when it comes to history there will be more space for world history, rather than just Indian history, as is the case in the regular curriculum.
At the same time, students will also be encouraged to learn outside the confines of the classroom. “Instead of simply studying the history of India, students will get a chance to explore the city or state in which they live,” she said.

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Languages are an important component of the international curriculum. The students are also expected to study three languages, rather than just two. Compulsory languages are English and either Hindi or another local language, as is already the case in the regular curriculum, plus a foreign language. Options could include French, Russian, Spanish, German and Portuguese.
World literature will also have greater space in this curriculum. “Students are expected to read authors from all around the world in English and in translation ranging from Anita Desai to Franz Kafka to Leo Tolstoy,” Ms. Chhabra said. Students will also be encouraged to develop their creative writing skills.
The curriculum also aims to teach students business communications skills as well as to introduce them to information technologies. It will also focus on helping students develop interpersonal and communication skills in order to prepare them to enter the workforce.
Students will be allowed to chose what subjects to focus on depending on their aptitude and interest.
The board’s international syllabus also includes extra-curricular activities like gymnastics, swimming, yoga and gardening, which were not available in the regular curriculum. Students are also required to do so social work. This is likely to involve taking time off school to help tutor underprivileged children.
So far, only ten schools across India have applied for the international syllabus. They are waiting for the CBSE to confirm whether they will be able to introduce it from the next academic year, which starts in April. The CBSE is assessing schools on the basis of whether they have the necessary facilities to deliver the curriculum though they are still working out the details.
The system would be initially introduced for classes 1, 6 and 10 (for ages between 10 and 16) and the schools would have an option to offer both streams.
Education counselor Astha Singh, of the Noida-based Career Smart Academy, said the introduction of the foreign curriculum in Indian schools will facilitate admission to those who want to study abroad for university.
It will also broaden the social background of those who cannot afford an international education. In India, international education has so far, been the privilege of the elite, with only few middle-class students having access to foreign schools.
Schools who wanted to introduce an international curriculum, previously had to turn to the International Baccalaureate or to the International General Certificate of Secondary Education. This cost schools around 600000 rupees ($12456), a fee that trickled down to the students. The affiliation fee for the new international curriculum is less half than that: 250000 rupees ($5190). It is still unclear how much school fees would amount to per student in schools that will adopt the new international syllabus. A CBSE official told India Real Time the details were still being worked out.
Schools worry that if the CBSE doesn’t get back to them soon they will not be able to introduce the new curriculum in time for the next academic year.
Usha Ram, principal of the New Delhi-based Laxman Public School, found the international curriculum attractive because it is more research-based. However, she is worried her school won’t get the approval in time. “We need to develop infrastructure for the implementation of the international curriculum and need time for that,” she said.
Lata Vaidyanathan, principal of the Modern School in New Delhi said her school aims to adopt the international syllabus as soon as possible. She is keen on it because “it focuses less on text books and involves more teaching through projects, discussions and experiments.” She also complained that the time was ticking if they had any hope of introducing it by April.
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Do you think the CBSE’s international curriculum will help Indian students? Please share your views in the Comments section.