By Mehboob Inamdar
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: There has been a 25 per cent rise in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) affiliated schools in the five districts of the division during the last three years.
There were less than 100 CBSE and ICSE schools in the district until March 2020. With a growing craze among parents to send their children out of State Board schools, the number of CBSE and ICSE schools rose to 125. The district has the highest number of CBSE and ICSE schools (69) while the lowest number of schools is in Hingoli (seven).
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Deputy Director of Education (Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, division) Anil Sable said that one of the reasons for the increase in CBSE and ICSE schools is that the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) designs and provides them with books and parents consider that their children can clear competitive examinations like National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) easily if they NCERT syllabus.
He said the passing criteria in CBSE is a bit easier compared to the State Board schools. The minimum passing mark in CBSE is 33 per cent while for the State Board, it is 35 per cent. With the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP), the new syllabus of Science and Mathematics subjects will be the same for the local Board and other Boards schools in the coming days since the State Council for Education Research and Training (SCERT) will design the new syllabus for them,” he added.
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Dr Ranjit Dass (director, Nath Valley School) said that CBSE and ICSE are national boards and have national curricula, that’s why they are liked throughout the country.
“Yes, it is true that in recent years, the district has got a large number of CBSE schools and a few ICSE schools.
This is because CBSE schools follow the latest syllabus and curriculum that is made by NCERT and other research bodies in the central Government. This prepares the students for better opportunities if they want to study in top institutions of country like IIT, AIIMS and Delhi University or even abroad, Because, they have inculcated critical thinking and research skills,” he added.
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District-Board-wise schools in division
The District and Board wise number of schools in the five districts of the division is as follows;
District------------CBSE--------ICSE-----IB----total
Chh Sambhajinagar--63----------05-----01-----69
Parbhani---------------11----------00-----00-----11
Hingoli-----------------07----------00-----00-----07
Jalna--------------------14----------01-----00-----15
Beed--------------------23----------01-----00-----24