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Education is vital for an individual’s growth on every level. It is especially essential for ensuring their better career prospects. The kind of education you receive decides the trajectory of your child’s professional path. Thus, it is crucial to make the right choice when it comes to choosing which board of education your child studies under.
The debate of ICSE vs CBSE has been long going on. CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) and ICSE (Indian Certificate Of Secondary Education) are two of the most recognized boards of education in the country. Both are known for their distinct perks in terms of the syllabus covered, scope of knowledge, and learning goals.
CBSE is the Indian national-level education for public as well as private schools which holds the position of the most preferred and popular board across the country. It follows the national curriculum, approved by the NCERT (National Council of Education and Research Training) and mainly conducts two sets of examinations – the All India Secondary School Examination (AISSE) for class 10 and the All India Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (AISSCE) for class 12.
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ICSE is counted among the most prestigious boards of education in India and is managed by CISCE (Council of Indian School Certificate Examination) which is a non-governmental board, designed to conduct assessments and examinations in general education, as outlined in the New Education Policy 1986 (India), through the medium of English.
It conducts class 10 ICSE board examinations. Later on, ISC (Indian School Certificate) replaces ICSE while conducting class 12 exams and assessing students at the senior secondary level. In this article, we will cover the major difference between CBSE and ICSE and help you come out of the academic dilemma.
ICSE (Indian Certificate of Secondary Education) board is affiliated with CISCE (Council of Indian School Certificate Examination) whereas CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) is affiliated with the NCERT (National Council of Education and Research Training).
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CBSE focuses on competitive examinations like IIT JEE, NEET, and more with clearly defined streams and combinations of subjects to opt to take specific career paths. The syllabus is well structured and easy to understand while ICSE places more emphasis on project assignments (where 20% of marks are via internal assessment) and focuses on imparting practical, application-based learning to the students.
In terms of the syllabus covered, ICSE vs CBSE battle takes an interesting turn as the curriculum of CBSE focuses more on Science & Mathematics whereas ICSE awards equal importance to subjects such as Art, Languages, and Humanities.
ICSE and CBSE apply different teaching methodologies. ICSE board teaching is more focused on the application of theoretical concepts and helps the students develop a pragmatic approach with in-depth comprehension of the subject matter while CBSE offers a compact syllabus with lesser subjects. Also, the ICSE syllabus is thorough, elaborate, and complex while the CBSE syllabus is more specific and easier.
ICSE Board focuses on many languages including English, Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, etc. Along with this, they cover other creative subjects like cooking, agriculture, etc.
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The syllabus of CBSE is theoretical and informative and is conducive to prepping students who want to sit for and clear IIT JEE or NEET due to this merit while ICSE certification is apt for students who want to study in foreign schools and universities as it helps one prepare for TOEFL and IELTS exams.
CBSE board conducts several talent hunt exams to facilitate the growth of students and grants various scholarships to the pupils who perform exceptionally well in them. On the other hand, ICSE has no such scholarships to offer.
CBSE doesn’t have a preference toward any particular language. In contrast, ICSE puts its prime focus on the English language and this majorly helps students in attaining high proficiency in the English language. Not only this, ICSE gives special preference to language learning and offers a plethora of languages to opt from such as Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian, French, Russian, Spanish, Nepali, and more.
When talking about major differences between CBSE and ICSE, ICSE gets a clear upper hand for students who want to apply to universities abroad. CBSE board gets a wider acceptance within the country, however, the students who possess an ICSE certification are more likely to get preference in foreign lands.
CBSE & ICSE boards follow different assessment structures. In CBSE, students are marked from 100 where each term is awarded 50 marks (40 marks for theory and 10 marks for internal assessment) and students are supposed to score a minimum of 33% of marks in each subject to clear the exam. For ICSE, 80% of marks are drawn from external assessment and 20% from internal with the aggregate of both taken as the final result.
There is no acceptance of students of other boards to classes 10th and 12th in the ICSE board. For a student to appear in classes 10 and 12 in ICSE, the student is supposed to have studied in classes 9 and 11 in the ICSE board respectively.
On the other hand, a student who has completed a regular course of study for a previous class and has passed a previous class examination from an institution recognized by/affiliated with any recognized Board in India, other than this Board, can be admitted to a CBSE school.
As of 2022, the ICSE board conducts class 10 examinations in two tiers – the first one includes MCQs and the second one consists of subjective and objective questions to assess students’ aptitude while the CBSE class 10 examination assessment has two terms. Term 1 consists of assertion reasoning type MCQs while term 2 assesses the students on the basis of short & long-answer-type questions.
The CBSE grading system is alphabetical in which the students are awarded grades from Grade A to Grade E while ICSE evaluates the performance of each student through obtained scores.
So, which board shall you choose for a better future?
Following closely the comparison drawn between the two boards, the main difference between ICSE and CBSE that one can make is that the ICSE board helps hone a student’s core personality traits for a better career and life while CBSE aids them in attaining goals and scoring well in the competitive sphere.
If your kid’s goal is to crack exams such as JEE or NEET, the preferred board shall be CBSE and if there are literature, humanities, or art ambitions that your child is harboring and wants to pursue, you should go for the ICSE board. However, it is to be kept in mind that no matter which board out of the two you select, the hard work and efforts that the student puts into the academics and the merit obtained take the upper hand in all cases when it comes to college admissions.
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Parents are advised to keep the pros and cons of both boards in view while making the selection to ensure that their kids shine in their careers and have a boost early on in their career paths. Prime your kid for higher studies and college applications the best way with the right choice of board.
JBM Global is one of the top schools in Noida for students who wish to study under a recognized curriculum. It is affiliated with the CBSE system and offers world-class education.
With proper career planning and consistency in their efforts, students can do well under any board, however, the students who want to pursue competitive exams such as IIT JEE or NEET should go for CBSE while those looking to go for literature studies should pick ICSE board.
The major difference between CBSE and ICSE boards is that ICSE focuses more on application-based learning, has internal assessments, and puts extra emphasis on language studies which draws the ICSE board to be more difficult than the CBSE board which concentrates on theoretical learning.
