Mita Mukherjee

The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) has started discussions with various foreign universities for giving weightage to ISC students after clearing Class XII so that they can skip the first one or two semesters of the undergraduate programmes offered by such universities, Joseph Emmanuel, chief executive and secretary of CISCE said on Tuesday.

He said that the council has given the proposal to the foreign universities because the ISC curriculum followed by the CISCE is at par with the first year syllabus of the undergraduate courses offered by them.

According to Emmanuel, if the universities agree to the CISCE proposal, students will not only save time but they will also have to spend Rs 25 to 50 lakh less for studying the undergraduate courses.

“ As for our curriculum we are not behind anybody in the world. In fact, we are having discussions with universities across the world about giving weightage to CISCE students after class XII to skip one or two semesters in their undergraduate programmes because we teach so much to our children that they don’t need to study that much in the undergraduate course. We are at an advanced level of discussions with various universities in different parts of the world so that our children will get maximum edge for studying the undergraduate programmes. This will save time and also save a lot money. If one semester is skipped, it can  help them to save Rs 25 to Rs 50 lakh . It is not a small amount,” Emmanuel said.

He was addressing a gathering of more than 200 CISCE affiliated schools at the Heritage School in Kolkata to discuss implementation of NEP 2020.

The council is in touch with various national and  international level  organizations of universities like the Association of Indian Universities and similar bodies in UK and US so that they examine the ISC curriculum and recognize that it is equivalent to the first year undergraduate programme.

“ If the universities agree after examining our proposal, our students can join the third or fourth semester in the undergraduate programs in the universities abroad. But we need to get this recognition from the universities,” Emmanuel said.

The council chief reminded the school heads that though the CISCE curriculum is known for its high standard, the individual institutions must adopt new and innovative practices, start thinking about how to transform class rooms and how to bring excellence in teaching learning process in order to excel.  

“When you talk about any innovative practices, the immediate response from teachers is where is the time to do all these activities and we are struggling to complete our syllabus. This mindset should change and you have to bring the change…. Start thinking about how to transform classrooms and  schools and how to bring excellence in the teaching learning process,” Emmanuel said.

Also read: CISCE to offer two levels of English and Maths syllabus for ISC students