ICSE board or CBSE board

I have been a CBSE student, but I have friends who have done ICSE, I dont see much difference in the output of the students !!! I cant comment about the syllabus and teaching methodologies, but this is my observation !!!

We used to shift almost every 2-3 years, so I have studied in 6 different schools in the north, west, and south of the country - so I have seen every possible permutation and combination of students from every corner of India !!

With strength of materials and engineering mechanics (I mention these subjects because christine mentioned them !!), I had many ICSE friends asking me for explanations... I studied my engineering at a premier institute where there was a representation from ALL the states of India, a proportional demographic distribution and 1st year engineering gave EXACTLY the SAME results for CBSE, ICSE and SOUTHERN state board students !!!

I mention 1st year results because it shows what you've learnt in the last 12 years - every year we found that out of 400 students who passed it, ALL (100%) CBSE, ICSE and AP, karnataka and andhra state board got more than 60% marks and among the other state boards, only 40-50% got more than 60% marks!!!

But by 3rd year or 4th year, all boards had similar results - it depended on the sincerity and the commitment the student showed !!! Even with placements, it was almost equal... because those who lacked in english communication skills worked on it !!!

So it is not that any child with ICSE board is automatically better than any child who has done CBSE or state boards or vice versa !!!

It also depends on the exposure the child gets, and the interests and the kind of environment his parents make available!!!

Regarding shakespeare and english language skills, well, if you see the state boards, they definitely go deeper into the respective state's language and literature !!! CBSE students were much better at Sanskrit and Hindi and they were also ok with English !!!

In my circle, I have seen that irrespective of the board, people speak/write good English if they had a reading habit from their childhood or had a natural grasp of languages or if they deliberately worked at bettering it during MBA entrance or their career etc...!!!!

Nothing is black or white in life - you'll hear a lot of things like - put intelligent kids in ICSE, and CBSE doesnt teach good english and CBSE students only mug answers, they dont understand the concepts etc... I've also heard opposing views too, like ICSE students dont know science and maths, they dont do much homework, so no hard work, no practice, they concentrate too much on english etc etc... all this is hearsay and generalizations !! It is like saying that Indian roads always have elephants and bears and Indians keep pet tigers in their backyard

At the end of the day, look for availability, convenience, affordability and whether you're able to cope up with their studies (without or with tuitions!),

Look at your future plans - if you keep shifting between major cities of India, go for CBSE schools !!! There are more number of them !

If you plan to not move at all, go for any school that offers good education in your area !!!

P.S : I've also heard someone say that while ICSE goes in-depth in a few topics, CBSE gives an overview of many topics or was it vice versa
:hide::bonk

 

You must read the following link

CBSE vs ICSE: Passing-by-rote vs Enlightened education by Mom's the word : Sharvani Pandit Singh's blog-The Times Of India

More so, it is very important that you read the comments for the blog, which brings out the true colors of each syllabus. The choice is up to you.

Hope this helps.

 

coolblues, I think you found an absolute gem in terms of entertainment !!! The blog author's irrational bias and all the comments was like watching a K-Ekta Kapoor's serial lots of drama, fighting and action !!!

Everyone must read the article and the subsequent comments !!!
Thanx for the laughs

The lady who wrote the article proved that in spite of the "Enlightened " education, she was actually illiterate!!! She says ICSE made her broad minded, then I really wonder how narrow minded she was before the "Enlightened Education", if she could dismiss 99.5% Indian population as useless !!! Even her english was full of grammatical and spelling mistakes !!!

Is English the yardstick of education? For the economic world, if you can communicate well in english, it is enough!!!

The only advantage she could harp about was the "Quoting from poetry" !!! Sorry, that should be "Quoting from English Poetry"!!! While ICSE students could quote from english poetry, I have seen CBSE students quoting from Hindi/sanskrit poetry and state board students quoting from their language's poetry... each language is beautiful and has a treasure trove of literature.... I have understood about our country's history and rich literature more from interacting with people and understanding the stories and songs they grew up with and reading translations

I used to work in London - I'm a techie - and there were 2 employees, British, who had completed their Bachelors in English Literature and were working in the content/marketing group - we spent many hours discussing English literature and Grammar (during lunch!!!), they always used to be surprised that I could speak/write better english than them, had much better vocabulary than them, could understand their tough legal parlance and terms and knew about and visited Stratford-upon-Avon, Forests of Arden, that I spent weekends traveling to birthplaces of Byron and Keats and Anne Hathaway and Charlotte Bronte and could talk about grammatically well constructed sentences!!! Any document they wrote, they used to send it to ME for editing and advice

And I'm NOT a literature student, but an engineering graduate !!! One of them actually asked me if I was some princess in India because I knew so much ha ha ha I told them I'm from a normal middle class home (studied in CBSE and there were millions like me in India

I can quote from English, Sanskrit, Hindi, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam literature and history and understand and know marathi and gujarati local history and literature !!!

I can speak about microbiology with a microbiology researcher as well as I can discuss household chores with a home maker... I can speak Doremon with kids as well as Vedanta with elderly people and Twilight with teenage girls!! Sorry I cant discuss politics and cricket

It is not the board, it is the exposure, interests and personality of the student!!!

I collect kids whenever I have time and teach vedic maths (apart from science and environment and slokas and values and stories and activities!!) and I see kids from all kinds of backgrounds - absolutely no difference due to the board

 

@coolblues, thanks for that link...wonderful example of a limited mind

OP,
Why don't you look at the schools near your home and pick the one that suits your needs? It will give your child more time to play and he will make friends in the neighborhood. You will be able to develop a good relationship with other parents and maybe help each other as the need arises.

Oh, don't worry about your child being bright or not...in the long run that doesn't matter much. Being happy does.

 

in which school u studied?

 

I too loved the intense comments that were hurled at that poor lady. For me, a child can be smart and intelligent regardless of the board that he/she pursues. I dont think people like Dr. V.Radhakrishnan or even Abdul Kalam for that matter went to ICSE board and we all know how great they are/were in their own pursuits.

Personality of a child depends on the immediate environment. As long as that is positive, am certain a child can achieve stars.