CBSE-i Will No More Be Available In Indian Schools

The international curriculum that was available at select Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) schools will now be discontinued from the upcoming academic year 2017-2018. CBSE-i (international) was a curriculum that was incorporated on a trial basis in 2010-11. Now, those schools have been instructed to shift their students to the main curriculum when the current session ends.

Around 50 schools in India and 26 schools in the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia and other Gulf countries that are offering the curriculum and the decision will have impact on all of them. The advantage of this course is that it was a less expensive and quality-oriented alternative to programmes such as the International Baccalaureate (IB) and International General Certificate of Secondary Education.

The problems CBSE-i was facing were the unavailability of quality reading material of global standards according to a notification issued by MK Srivastava, joint-secretary, academic, research and training, in-charge.

"The matter of continuity of the curriculum was taken up for a detailed discussion in the meeting of the curriculum committee held in December, 2016...and the governing body," the notice read. "It was resolved to have a comprehensive review of the curriculum by a government consultancy organisation."

According to the notification, CBSE-affiliated schools in India that have an approval for the CBSE-i curriculum and are offering it on campus are directed to discontinue with it from 2017-18. The students who take the course will be shifted to the main curriculum after being promoted to the next class.

Also, schools not affiliated to CBSE but offering CBSE-i have also been asked to remove it. They can also seek regular CBSE affiliation and offer the main curriculum.