English speaking and listening skills will be introduced in the ICSE curriculum for class IX, X and XI from the next academic year beginning in April 2010, said Gerry Arathoon, Additional Secretary and Officiating Chief Executive of Council for Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE).
He was speaking to presspersons on the sidelines of the 88th annual conference of the Association of Heads of Anglo-Indian Schools in India. The three-day conference was inaugurated by Governor H.R. Bharadwaj here on Tuesday.
“Earlier, only writing skills of the students were being assessed. We introduced speaking and listening skills, as they are essential. The students will be given scores based on internal assessment,” he said.
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He also said that from this academic year, the Council had decided to do away with supplementary examination for second language at the class 10 level. “Earlier, if a student failed in second language, he/she would have had to appear for the supplementary examination to be promoted to class 11. However, we will not have supplementary examination this year for students who have failed in the second language,” he said.
Asked about the high standards and vast curriculum at the ICSE and ISC levels, Mr. Arathoon said that the Council will “not dilute the standards, especially in English”. “English is our strength”, he added.
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He also said that the Council would not make the Class X board examination (ICSE) optional. “We feel it is necessary for children to face the Board examination and I am sure parents will agree. Children will earnestly prepare for the board examinations. If it is a school examination, the seriousness will be missing. Also, we believe that the Class X board examination will prepare them to face the Class XII Board examination,” he added.
Earlier, the Governor gave away the annual “The Derozio Awards for Education and Human Enrichment” for 2009 to D.P.N. Prasad, who was a principal and is a member of various institutions, and David Joseph Hilton, principal of Hilton School, Dehradun. A special award was given away to Kulachi Hansraj Manovikas Kendra, New Delhi, for catering to the needs of special children. The Derozio Award was instituted to celebrate and commemorate the life of H.L.V. Derozio, an advocate of educational reform, so that his life may inspire a new generation of education to emulate his life and work in the service of the nation.
Mr. Bharadwaj spoke about the high values of the Anglo-Indian community. “Though the community is small, it has contributed greatly to the education field. The Anglo-Indian Schools have become sources of outstanding knowledge in the country,” he said.
The theme of the conference is “Anglo-Indian Schools: havens for peace and harmony”. As many as 120 school principals from across the country, including 19 from the city, are participating in the three-day annual conference.