As foreign boards gain ground, CIE set to overtake CISCE

NEW DELHI: Indian students now aspire to a world-class education, as borne out by the remarkable growth of international boards in the country. In the last decade, especially the last five years, many more schools have been offering qualifications with global currency, like the International Baccalaureate (IB) and the Cambridge Assessment International Education (CIE).

With a year-on-year growth of 10 per cent between 2014 and 2016, and another 6.1 per cent in 2017, the UK-based CIE's strength in India is now at about 67,000, barely 7,000 students short of the numbers for the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE), that conducts ICSE and ISC exams. Meanwhile, Switzerland's IB programme has also increased its presence from 92 schools in 2013 to 146 schools now.

Apart from offering international teaching practices and academic standards, these curricula have also adjusted to the Indian academic calendar. For instance, the Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) offers the option of a March examination exclusively for Indian students. These boards also offer a range of Indian subjects such as Sanskrit and Hindi.

With over 22 lakh students across 160 countries, CIE is one of the most popular international school curricula on offer. It has always had a small footprint in India, right from pre-Independence times, with a few select schools offering the curriculum. It was only after the 1990s, though, that CIE started taking the Indian market seriously. It now adds roughly 30 to 40 schools in India every year; from 340 schools in 2012-13, it has expanded to 420 schools in 2017.


But these international curricula, currently being offered by some big schools, come with a hefty price tag. Ruchira Ghosh, regional director for South Asia, CIE, said: "The entire educational environment is changing. There is great appetite for international education." In her view, there are a range of schools with varying facilities, and it would be unfair to call them expensive without looking at the bang for the buck. "The cost is comparatively higher because of the investment it takes to create such a curriculum. It is really about value for money," she said.

"We also work with universities and higher education institutions so that they understand what our qualification brings," added Ghosh.

Similarly, the IB programme has grown almost tenfold in the last decade. In 2003, a mere 11 schools offered the IB programme. By 2013, this number had gone up to 107. Maharashtra leads this trend, with 41 schools that offer IB.


This growth story also belies the general perception that that CIE or IB students go abroad for higher studies. The majority of these students, in fact, stay on in India for their undergraduate degree and do well.

"This is a perception we would like to work on. While top universities around the world accept the Cambridge qualification, our students are also going to the best of Indian universities. In fact, most of them study in India," said Ghosh.

Rakhi Mukherjee, principal of Prabhavati Padamshi Soni International (PPSI) junior college, Mumbai, said: "Almost 60 per cent of the students stay in the Indian education system." Her school has 19 world toppers and 65 India toppers in the CIE system so far.

"The Cambridge curriculum is about zero rote learning. It is more skill-based, and attuned to the skills of the future. In 2006, we started the IGCSE A-level with one division of 30 students. Today we have six divisions with 30 students each," added Mukherjee.

Global curricula also need to think locally for a better connect. "For India's admission needs, we have introduced exams in March. For all other purposes, the curriculum is internationally benchmarked, with sessions in May-June and October-November. All these options are available in India too, but most schools here prefer March," said Ghosh.