File picture of an assembly in a school in Doha used for representation only.
Hundreds of students in some of the Indian schools in Qatar are in a dilemma over the Indian education board’s move to discard its international curriculum.
The board has also reintroduced compulsory Class X board examination from the academic year 2017-18.
India’s Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) recently issued a circular announcing discontinuation of its CBSE-i curriculum, from next academic year, which commences here in April. CBSE-i curriculum was initiated as a pilot project in the academic year 2010-11. Due to operational difficulties, the syllabus will be scraped away from the coming academic year, 2017-18.
“In the course of time, several issues relating to operational difficulties, including availability of quality reading material of global standard, were noticed,” the circular said.
The move will effect some of the leading Indian schools including MES Indian School, Shantiniketan Indian School, Birla Public School and Doha Modern Indian School.
With schools unable to provide any concrete solutions parents and students are in a predicament as to what needs to be done.
Going by the circular, schools in Qatar that have approval for CBSE-i curriculum and offer it on campus should discontinue doing so from the next academic session. Students of such schools affected by this decision on their promotion to next class will be accommodated in the CBSE main curriculum. Meanwhile, those schools that offer only CBSE-i and are not affiliated with CBSE have also been asked to withdraw the curriculum and seek regular CBSE affiliation offering main curriculum.
Also read: CBSE (i) curriculum to be discontinued from next academic session
“There was a good demand for the stream, since the quality of education on offer was excellent,” said A K Srivastava, Principal of Birla Public School.
Mixed response by parents to discontinuation of CBSE-i stream
Birla Public School alone has more than 1,000 students following the curriculum, in various classes. The school also boosts of more than 55 dedicated teaching staff for the stream.
“We began the stream in the academic year 2010-11, a number of parents come to us requesting the curriculum. Now it is going back to square one and question arises why the whole project was started. A step in the right direction has been retraced,” he said.
However, most of the schools The Peninsula contacted yesterday were yet to take a decision on the move.
“At the moment we haven’t taken any decision. Our board of directors will meet soon and we will notify the parents,” said Srivastava.
“We have got the circular from the authorities and we need to discuss the issue with the management. Students will be taken care of, they can be given promotion to a higher class in the CBSE main stream,” said Dr Subhash Nair, Principal of Shantiniketan Indian School, which has more than 400 students in various classes and exclusively trained teachers for the stream.
Meanwhile, many of the parents frowned upon the decision, stressing the fact that the curriculum was of high quality. “We have not received any official information from the school yet. However, personally I disapprove of the move, as I chose the stream for my child, considering the excellence of the stream,” said Roy Thomas, whose daughter studies in the curriculum. “I am a bit upset because the curriculum had offered one of the best teaching methods. Children were able to understand and learn what was being taught. There is a difference in the style of teaching and learning in CBSE-i and the CBSE main stream. So for students in higher classes, the switch to new system will make studies comparatively tougher,” said Rashmi, whose two children are following the discounted stream.
However, for many discontinuation of CBSE-i curriculum was a blessing in disguise.
“I had to chose the stream because there were no seats available in any of the Indian schools for the CBSE main stream. The curriculum is expensive, that I have to pay double the amount compared to the main stream. Now, my children can take up the main stream,” said a parent.
“The stream was very expensive and I had chosen as I heard the quality of education was higher. However, I had to face huge disappointment as there was no proper study materials for the stream. I personally laud the move," said another parent. Meanwhile, the decision to reintroduce compulsory Class X board examination from the coming academic year has also created discontent. Currently the curriculum follows Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) pattern.
“Scrapping of the CCE and introduction of compulsory examination is a cause for concern. All schools here were following the system correctly. However, some schools implemented the system improperly. Instead of closing the loopholes, the decision to reintroduce the old system is not wise,” said Dr Srivastava.
