With the number of schools that are going ‘international’ steadily on the rise, another global curriculum has been introduced in two city schools this academic year —the CBSE’s international curriculum, CBSE-i.
CBSE chairman Vineet Joshi, who was in the city, said this year, close to 300 schools had applied for the CBSE-i curriculum, and nearly 30 are operational. Of these, Vels Vidyashram and Vani Vidyalaya Senior Secondary School are the first to offer the curriculum in Chennai. Both the schools have introduced it in classes I, II and III this year.
The CBSE-i curriculum, he said, was on par with those such as the International Baccalaureate programme, but offered value for money. “It tries to keep the foundation strong in mathematics and science and also tries to build flexibilities involved in the global context today,” he said. It had proved successful in the Middle East and Far East countries, he added.
With the affiliation fee being about Rs. 2.5 lakh, far lesser compared to some other international curriculum, Mr. Joshi said this might also get translated into lesser fees.
V. Venkatachalam, dean of Vels Group of Schools, said it was the need of the hour. “There is a big rush towards international curriculum,” he said.
According to Aruna Appasamy, principal, Vani Vidyalaya Senior Secondary School and Junior College, with young parents moving around globally, the curriculum that has an R&D approach, allows self-pacing and is more flexible. “We showed interested parents a presentation so they can make an informed decision,” she said.
Tamali Podder, who handles class I of the CBSE-i curriculum, says the basic difference is that the structure is integrated. “The unit on animals, for instance, incorporates all subjects such as environment science, English, ICT and mathematics. It also includes visual arts, performing arts, life skills, SEWA (social empowerment through work and action) which is not there in CBSE. Students can visit Blue Cross or the zoo and understand hands-on,” she said.
Though apprehensive initially, Praveen Tony, a parent who admitted his daughter in class I, said he had decided to make the switch as he was convinced by the presentation made by the school. “So far it has worked out well. I had not thought about moving over to an international curriculum, but since the same school is offering it, I opted for it. Besides, she is only in class I now,” he said.
Mr. Joshi, participated at the launch of CBSE-i at Vels Vidyashram, Pallavaram on Friday. Ishari K. Ganesh, chairman of the Vel’s Group of Institutions was among those present.
