India's Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has asked schools affiliated to it to discontinue the international curriculum (CBSE-i) launched in 2010-2011, citing "operational difficulties including availability of quality reading material of global standards".
In a circular posted on its website on January 31, the Indian board has asked all its affiliated schools in India and abroad that follow the CBSE i-curriculum to discontinue it and transfer the students to its main curriculum with effect from the next academic year (2017-2018).
CBSE said the international stream was launched on a pilot basis and in a recent meeting of the curriculum board, the matter was referred to the governing body of CBSE.
The governing body has decided to have a comprehensive review of the curriculum by a government consultancy and the board has asked schools that follow the international syllabus to discontinue it from the next academic term.
As per the board notification, schools that have approval for CBSE-i curriculum, such as those in Qatar, should discontinue the syllabus from the next academic session.
Students affected by this decision will be promoted to next class and accommodated in the CBSE main curriculum.
For schools in Qatar and other Gulf countries, the new academic year starts from April, as opposed to June in India. The new step will have its ramifications on several schools, including some from Qatar, as there are a number of schools in the country that follow the CBSE-i curriculum.
Birla Public School, MES Indian School, Shantiniketan Indian School and Doha Modern Indian School are among those offering CBSE- i along with the main CBSE curriculum in Qatar.
As there is a big shortage of seats at Indian schools in Qatar, a large number of parents had been constrained to admit their children to the international stream, which involves higher fees. Several parents had complained that some schools had been exploiting the situation to make huge profits by offering international curriculum seats to new students.
The CBSE decision has come as a great relief to these parents. One of them said: “My child is following the i-curriculum at a leading school in Doha. It was not my option but a compulsion of the circumstances. I could not get a seat for the regular CBSE syllabus for my child and had to take the i-curriculum that was offered. Now that CBSE has asked the schools to discontinue it, they will have to follow the main curriculum and the fee will be considerably lower. I am glad.”
However, some parents are unhappy with the development. Many of them are worried the mid-way shift to a new curriculum would affect their children's academic prospects. "I hope my daughter will be able to adapt," one of the parents said.
Birla School principal A K Shrivastava said that several parents had called him to express their unhappiness. “About 1, 000 students are following the i-curriculum in our school. We have also invested heavily for this. However, we will comply with the board decision. Our management will decide on the further course of action.”
DMIS principal Rakesh Singh Tomar said that about 375 students are following the i-curriculum in his school. “We will abide by the CBSE directive. However, some parents may not be happy about it. Since we provide almost the same facilities for the main and i-curriculum, the children may not be affected much.”
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