Foreign boards find favour with parents

KOLKATA: "Think global, act local". That seems to be the mantra for an increasing number of school students planning to study abroad in college. If the earlier trend was away from state boards to CBSE and ISC curricula, more parents are now preferring schools with affiliation to international boards for their wards.
While some prominent schools with affiliation to international boards already exist in the city, a couple of more are in the pipeline.The demand for these schools is growing, thanks to the increase in pursuing graduation from abroad.
"I want to pursue undergraduate education in the UK and thought that doing my Plus-II from an international board would give me better foothold," said Rajdeep Chakraborty, a Class XII student at Calcutta International School, who shifted from a school affiliated to a home-grown board.
Schools at upcoming townships are also keen on taking affiliation from international boards. Speaking to TOI on the affiliation, Tapati Singhi, associate consultant of South City International School, part of the South City township, said: "We have both homegrown board and the international board, primarily to accommodate students to inculcate Indian values along with a global education."
Calcutta Riverside is also planning a school on a similar note. "Planning for the school is still at a nascent stage, but we want the school to be affiliated to International Baccalaureate (IB) or Cambridge University. In this age of global mobility, people are concerned about the education of their children; this system will not require any readjustment," said Sumit Dabriwala, managing director, Calcutta Riverside.
Indian expatriates moving to the city are also another reason behind this trend. Aditya Kumar, co-founder of an educational venture planning the Oaktree International School in the city, said: "International curriculum is concept- and research-based. When students travel abroad for higher education, they take time in getting used to the system. This system will strengthen their base."
On how an international board facilitates a child's education, Dr Anuradha Das, principal of Calcutta International School said: "About 85% of our students make it to well-known universities in the UK and USA. In fact, two students at our school got perfect SAT scores, a rare achievement. We have SAT training facility in our school as well. The high standard of the curriculum creates a strong base and most students do well in universities."