Many top Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)-affiliated schools in the city are opening new campuses to set up international schools. The popular choice is Cambridge International schools in keeping with the demand from parents looking for an alternative to the State and Central boards.
In the 2019-20 academic year, 58 Cambridge International schools will be operational across the State, of which eight got their licences this year. A majority, 52, are in Bengaluru.
Ruchira Ghosh, Regional Director, South Asia, Cambridge Assessment International Education (CAIE), said schools were seeing a demand for the IGCSE syllabus. “This is because there is better awareness on the curriculum and parents, who are frustrated with the national and State boards, are looking for options,” she said.
The flexibility of the curriculum which allows schools and students to choose their subjects is one reason for its popularity. According to Ms. Ghosh, only 50% of their students go abroad for further studies.
Kannada as a language
Many international schools teach Kannada as a language in their primary classes. At a meeting, principals of international schools in the city informed Ms. Ghosh that the move to introduce Kannada has received a mixed response as some parents want to migrate to other parts of the country or go abroad.
Schools, however, have to teach the language after the State government implemented the Kannada Language Learning Act, 2015 which mandates that all schools in the State, irrespective of the boards, teach the language.
For the March 2021 examination, students at the high school level (class 10 equivalent), can choose three new subjects: Spanish, coordinated sciences, and international mathematics.
While international mathematics pertains to specific conceptual understanding and competences (investigation, modelling) needed for progress to advanced international courses, coordinated sciences is for those students who want to gain a good grounding in the subject as part of their general secondary education and preparation for more advanced studies.
From 2020, students at the primary level — who currently study English, mathematics, science and global perspectives — will have four new subjects such as music, arts and design, and digital literacy. Ms. Ghosh said these schools are free to teach the subjects that they want to.
