[greenhorn]

Having studied ICSE, my vote for ICSE. that is , of course if all other things are equal. A good syllabus is just the starting point ( and not the substitute for) a proper education. ICSE being descended from the anglo indian board, is a bit heavy on the english language, and more lenient on hindi/the vernacular. On the other hand, I was told that the central boards are much more stringent on hindi (something which I sucked at, and still do). Apart from that, the feedback from teachers who taught both was that apart from the teaching methodology, the syllabus for CBSE focused more on breadth, while ICSE focussed more on depth, and the former was more helpful if you were preparing for AIEEE/Regional entrance, while the latter was better if you were focussing on IIT JEE and similar exams

[aargee]

Originally Posted by anku94

One negative may be that things are not explained in detail in these books. Everything is short and concise. But IMO, it helps you to sharpen your, as CBSE says, Higher Order Thinking Skills.

Is it still the same? Then I'm glad; this is how things should be. People should get questions when they read a line & should be provoked to find answers as WHY like this? WHY NOT like that? Good to see CBSE is continuing the same standard.

Thanks for the info @Anku

Originally Posted by greenhorn

On the other hand, I was told that the central boards are much more stringent on hindi (something which I sucked at, and still do).

Well, it depends upon the school. I studied in Defense school that followed CBSE syllabus as equivalent to KV (basically formed by Hindi haters). We didn't have a strong Hindi policy & asked to speak always in English. I remember upto 6th or so, we were beaten if we were speaking in Thamizh. This was a strongly policy until I was in 6th or so, after that, it wasn't emphasised much, however, all our teachers spoke English within the campus.

Originally Posted by greenhorn

Apart from that, the feedback from teachers who taught both was that apart from the teaching methodology

Could you elaborate this? I'm not sure, I understood this quite well.

Originally Posted by greenhorn

and the former was more helpful if you were preparing for AIEEE/Regional entrance, while the latter was better if you were focussing on IIT JEE and similar exams

Undisputedly strongly agreed.

[greenhorn]

Originally Posted by Pallavi

In ICSE syllabus, the stress is more on understanding that learning by heart (or mugging up). The kids are trained to understand what they are reading.

From my exp, in ICSE kids are made to understand what they are reading mostly by examples. That is more stimulating than mugging up whats in the book.

Originally Posted by greenhorn

apart from the teaching methodology

Originally Posted by aargee

Could you elaborate this? I'm not sure, I understood this quite well.

essentially what Pallavi had mentioned. maybe methodology was not the best word

ps: this holds good only for sciences. for history etc, it was still good old mugging up

[KumaravelS]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

essentially what Pallavi had mentioned. maybe methodology was not the best word

ps: this holds good only for sciences. for history etc, it was still good old mugging up

slightly offtopic but related to above point on history..

I had the same sense about history, till I was studying in school. Later I was happy that I need not remember (mug-up) who was in power in which year blah blah...
Of late, at ease, am reading some historic perspectives whenever I want to find economic angle at that era.. Its as interesting as science and economics.
So history if written and thought by good authors and teachers would be as interesting as science if not more.

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by KumaravelS

slightly offtopic but related to above point on history..

So history if written and thought by good authors and teachers would be as interesting as science if not more.

contd...

It is a common trend that the toppers go to science, then comes commerce and finally arts. Its like, most of the people going for arts are those who barely managed to pass 10th and not the ones who are genuinely interested in that subject. Eventually they end up becoming teachers and the arts education itself goes for a toss.
I see a similar trend in Medicine field as well. Topper goes to MBBS, then comes BDS, then comes Aryuweda, Homeo and Veterinary etc.

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Is there any syllabus that doesn't give out weekly projects to parents? Damn, I don't recall my parents doing a single school project. While we get to do one every week.

Tell me about it! We have to do at least one project a month for my son who is in a CBSE school, but a nearby Matriculation school beats it hands down. So much so, many parents outsource the projects nowadays. There are professionals who will do any project and the charges vary from Rs 1000 - 10,000.

@aargee, do not opt for a state board school in TN, unless it is an exceptionally good school. I have not heard of any student making the cut for IIT from a state board school here. I am not saying IIT is the pinnacle of everything, just making a point.

[aargee]

Originally Posted by Gansan

@aargee, do not opt for a state board school in TN, unless it is an exceptionally good school. I have not heard of any student making the cut for IIT from a state board school here.

Sir, myself being a CBSE student & having realized its effect, I've almost settled for CBSE. If at all there're any last moment changes, the only credit goes to this thread

[challa]

I strongly beleve in selecting the good school and teachers than the curriculum, ofcourse curriculum too plays important role but selecting a good school which has right set of teachers should solve many confusions.

[canon]

hi
interesting topic.
I studied ICSE and do subscribe to some of the points said. let me tell u the syllaubus is damn good. i remember i used to have tuitions at home. however none of the tuition teachers stuck as they found it too hard for them. mind u almost all were Msc's and all. However the one guy who proved equal to my skills was someone who came from CBSE backgrounds. I found him equal to the task. Instead of the textbook we used to have discussions between ourselves on the topics i was supposed to study. So i would rate CBSE also as good as ICSE. i was light years ahead of friends in ssc format. CBSE = ICSE > SSC.

Most tuition teachers in Kerala run their own coaching classes too. some of them who taught me were hits with their students at these centres. How? they used to leach questions from my 8th standard texts and prepare questions to their degree classes at these centres. students couldn't answer them as they only mugged up known questions from guides. These teachers boasted they prepared the questions themselves. ha ha. single texts for maths, botany , zoology from 8th to 10th. we simply completed chapters in each standard. so it was more progressive and in-depth.

ICSE was responsible in instilling in me a sense of wanting to go deeper and learn more on anything i came across in my life. it changed my whole perspective so much so that i used to(still do) read everything i can lay my hands on. remember it would even be the ingredients on ketchup and tonic bottles on the family dining table. my whole rational ability was toned by ICSE schooling.maybe it was my school more than the sylabus, i dont know. but having said that none of the teachers i had at school ever went thru ICSE or CBSE. They had their schoolings in good old state sylabus. still they taught me julius ceaser in victorian english in 8th standard.
One point of immense importance is that ICSE ***ed up my simple arithematic skills. we were allowed calculators in class from 8th standard. point is i cannot do without them even now. its very impulsive so much so that once i got a result 7 on screen and then realised i had used one to calculate 5+2. how silly.
still both infinitely better than ssc. ssc simply sucks. i now have staff working for me who do not even know basic spellings. diesel is deesel, tea is tee and so on. i sometimes worry for their kids at home.

[Deep Blue]

Originally Posted by Jaguar

contd...

It is a common trend that the toppers go to science, then comes commerce and finally arts.

And then some of this toppers after their science education go back to economics, commerce and management!

Whichever the schooling system, I suppose a lot also depends on the teachers and the school itself.

[jassi]

ok being a bombay SSC student till 10th standard (1995 St. Anne's High School, Orlem, Malad), I need to clear up some stuff here. My spellings and grammer are perfect and my math is perfectly fine as well. Its the same for my sister and all of my friends from that era. I can't remember anyone those days, from this part of the country, studying in anything other than SSC.

Well ok, there was one kid from CBSE or ICSE (can't remember) in our society who had tons of homework and almost never came out to play, he had zero time for extracurricular stuff like karate class, etc. Can you blame this on syllabus, I think not. The kid's parents never encouraged anything other than studies and sent him to a CBSE/ICSE school really far away as there were only convent schools in our area those days. At the end of the day, I am sure this kid also grew up and did pretty well.

I have no experience with CBSE or ICSE, so I can't comment if they are better or worse syllabus wise.
The point is, we all studied in good convent schools with great teachers and also had the benefit of good parenting. If the kid is in the hands of good teachers (that teach well) and great parents (who encourage a balanced life), SSC or CBSE or ICSE should not matter.

Also I have heard that Bombay/Maharashtra state board is one of the best, and typically Universities in Pune/Bombay are rated very highly when going for a master's to other countries. This is from practical experience - when getting my skills validated for Aussie, I was told that getting a distinction in Engineering from Pune Univ is very difficult, however down south almost everyone has a really high score and this has dropped the global ratings of most Univs down south. I think the ratings are done by NOOSR or some such org.

Note - none of my information regarding SSC/ICSE/CBSE boards is current, so things might have changed for better or worse Good Luck

Edit - no offense to my friends in southern parts of India (have lived most of my working life in chennai, hyd and bangy) - you may have done excellent in life as the good parenting and good teachers rule still applies to you guys, even though your specific Uni maybe rated slightly lower! and thats my whole point here!

[Arkin evoisrevo]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Is there any syllabus that doesn't give out weekly projects to parents? Damn, I don't recall my parents doing a single school project. While we get to do one every week.

Meanwhile let me add one option for schooling, NIOS.

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF OPEN SCHOOLING

Originally Posted by pjbiju

+1 about weekly projects to parents. And many of those projects are about pasting ready made stickers. Sigh!

I see there's very little about NIOS on this thread.
I'm doing my 10th in NIOS, and I have mixed feelings about the system.
Basically NIOS is just "study at home", submit 3 simple tutor marked assignments every year, and at the end of the year, write an exam. And once or twice a month, go to the assigned school for correspondence with teachers. I have roughly 33-35 lessons per subject to prepare for, compared to 8-9 lessons that my old friends in CBSE have. (But remember, in CBSE, we have a term based system). The textbook quality has to be improved. But thanks to NIOS, I've been able to travel a lot, live a lot simpler, tension free life, and am able to do a lot, lot more than just school and books. I eat double the breakfast I had before, and I know about life outside school, where there's unnecessary pressure and such nonsense. But unless you are in dire circumstances (like mine), I do not recommend NIOS, as life is damn lonely without school, and you don't have many chances of interacting with people of your own age.

[smrtdvl]

Looking for a school for my daughter to get her admitted in pre-kg but the same old debate has started cbse vs icse. Wifey votes for icse and am looking at a cbse school that is 15 mins drive from my place. But basically both of us are looking for a school with less academic pressure. Any inputs on the same will be appreciated.

[one-77]

My alma mater - which used to be considered on of the best in the state - was affiliated to the CISCE. Graduated from school in 2006 (ISC).
From my personal experience, what I find most different about the ICSE/ ISC syllabi is that they give a certain importance to the languages and the humanities that CBSE/ State syllabi don't; the only "compulsory" subjects you need to take for the ICSE are English and the social sciences. And this, I believe, has been instrumental in shaping my mind and thought. The natural and medical sciences I've learnt in college can only help me in my work. For everything outside of it, to appreciate the more important things in life, I still depend on the social sciences I learnt in school.

In India, we "specialize" rather soon. We choose our different paths - science, commerce or the humanities - right from high school. (In comparison, students in the US choose their Major only towards the end of the sophomore year of college). And the onus in India is on memorizing our textbooks and outperforming our classmates, rather than analytical thought and reasoning. We learn the languages only so we can understand our other textbooks. And we learn up the facts and figures these other textbooks throw at us without ever giving a thought about how and why these came about.

The International Baccalaureate (IB) now being offered by several schools is a great alternative to the traditional Indian education system. It encuorages students to learn the liberal arts, as well as natural and social sciences simultaneously. More importantly, it encourages critical thought and research. The flip-side is that it isn't tailored for the JEE/ PMT entrance madness. (But honestly, when I have a kid, I'd like spare him/her the gruel of having to go through the terrible Indian entrance system).

If, I may say so, ICSE/ ISC is still the best among the Indian schooling systems. That is, if you cannot afford to offer your kid the IB.

[smrtdvl]

Originally Posted by one-77

If, I may say so, ICSE/ ISC is still the best among the Indian schooling systems. That is, if you cannot afford to offer your kid the IB.

Thanks a ton for the detailed reply. Am visiting a couple of icse schools today to check on the admission. We have one school offering IB in our city and I'll be checking that one too. But if I may ask, the amount of books carried by you was less right compared to cbse in the higher classes?