IGCSE SCHOOLS IN INDIA

‘We don’t evaluate students on the basis of knowledge alone’

Anahita Mukherji I TNN

Mumbai: International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE), the Std X board exam offered by the University of Cambridge International Examinations (CIE), is rapidly gaining ground in elite schools across Mumbai.

While there are around 52 ICSE schools in the city, it has 43 IGCSE institutes—twice the number of CBSE schools and more than three times that of IB institutes. TOI interviews Ian Chambers, CIE’s regional manager for south Asia, on what the board has to offer.

What is the growth rate of IGCSE schools across India?
Every year, we are growing at 40%. Currently, there are more than 200 IGCSE schools in India.

What’s the USP of these schools?
We focus on a child-friendly method of teaching that hones a wide variety of skills. We are an application-based board and do not evaluate a student on the basis of knowledge alone. For instance, an IGCSE question could be, “How important is fiscal policy in controlling inflation in India?’’ For this, a student needs to know what fiscal policy is, what the current scenario is as far as inflation is concerned.

Then, he has to apply his knowledge of fiscal policy to the Indian scenario. Students can also include their own ideas on the issue as well as a comparison of the current and past scenarios in India. Only then will he get a high score in the IGCSE.

Are students given grades or marks?
Both. Earlier, we used only grades, but we introduced marks this year as colleges and universities often ask for marks.

Are teachers for IGCSE schools selected on the basis of any exam?
There are no exams but teachers must familiarise themselves with our system. They are chosen by individual schools. For teachers who are already in IGCSE schools, there are regular training programmes in India.

Most schools in India that offer IGCSE are perceived as elitist. Do you feel IGCSE reaches only a limited audience?
No. Our curriculum is being offered by a diverse range of schools. Our focus is on making students independent learners through an enquiry-based method of teaching. This can be implemented in any classroom.

What are the different Std X examinations offered by the CIE?
In the UK, we offer the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE). In the rest of the world, there’s the IGCSE. We also offer O-levels, which are the equivalent of the IGCSE and GCSE. In countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, most CIE-approved schools offer O-levels, whereas the IGCSE is more popular in India.

What is the difference between O-levels and IGCSE?
IGCSE tests a wider range of skills and is more application-oriented. There is a lot of practical assessment involved in IGCSE. anahita.mukherji@timesgroup.com

Ian Chambers