By Iqbal Kaur
India has a national-level board of education called the Central Board of Secondary Education, or CBSE. Both public and private schools are under the control and supervision of the Union Government of India. CBSE is affiliated with approximately 27000 schools in India and 28 schools in other countries.
Since 2006, I have worked in the education field. I began my career as a teacher in a school with a state board. For teaching and learning, the traditional teaching methods were utilised. The syllabus was the primary focus, and rote learning was the direct method.
Off late, CBSE is focusing primarily on implementing and adopting novel approaches to teaching and learning to create classes focused on students’ needs. A sense of leadership, responsibility, ownership, and eagerness to learn are instilled in the students. It caters to the methods that help students hone their skills and does not limit students to content knowledge.
When I joined the IB & IGCSE boards after a few years, there was a big shift. The children and their parents had completely different mindsets with distinguished sets of expectations and queries.
CBSE is also now a cutting-edge board that keeps learning and teaching current with education system innovations and methodologies. It accommodates students of all abilities and learning styles, including auditory, visual, and kinesthetic. Life skills have also been added to the curriculum and upgraded by CBSE.
Additionally, I taught for a brief period in a British state school where the pedagogy and method of teaching were vastly different. There was a communication gap between the teacher and the parents up to the primary levels, with more interventions for the differently abled students and collaborative teaching and learning. The learning gaps were evident because children learn at their own pace.
Now CBSE’s approach to education is very well-balanced. It is suitable for all students and helps them prepare for competitive exams like JEE, ICAR AIEEA, NEET, CLAT, IMU CET, and others.
After returning to India, I accepted a teaching position at one of India’s best CBSE schools providing education using Project Based Learning (PBL) with cutting-edge methodologies.
The best CBSE schools in Gurgaon have adopted curriculum-integrated skill-based learning since it fosters originality and creativity. The best institutions in India now provide PBL and experiential education, which are entirely based on skill-based learning and teaching.
The great quote from Albert Einstein states:
“Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.”
So, providing those experiences to students which form the basis of education and remain with them lifelong.
Best practices at top CBSE schools
The CBSE developed a pioneering curriculum in Computer Education which spelled the genesis of a revolution in this field. The application of the same was clearly witnessed during the Covid 19, lockdown. Because computer education had been introduced in the curriculum, the knowledge of the computer became the new normal and online classes became the saviour.
Top schools in Gurgaon exhibit excellence by not only engaging the students in academics but also making their learning interesting by integrating co-curricular activities even during such difficult times. The emotional, social, and mental well-being of each child is taken care of.
One of the top CBSE schools took up a Disaster management project that was launched by CBSE as Disaster Management Curriculum and Education in Life Skills. It became an example wherein the students not only learned about various kinds of disasters but also conducted sessions with the students at the different grades by sensitising them and spreading awareness about the disasters. They honed their leadership, communication, empathy, and content skills.
Values based education has also become an important part of CBSE schools. CBSE has launched the Sahodaya Movement. It was a unique movement that stressed the need to develop by capitalising on the strengths of member institutions to grow and progress in the spirit of caring and sharing. It provides more opportunities for the children to adapt to the new environment i.e social & emotional development. It also helps a child become adept whether it’s about resolving a conflict, making good decisions for themselves and others, and being empathetic.
A top school of Gurgaon incorporated such movements in its curriculum, also initiated the project SHRAM and integrated it with other subjects wherein the students at different grade levels contributed by donating old clothes, shoes, blankets, and various food items to Robin Hood Army for the disaster-affected area. They also clearly demonstrated collaboration.
CBSE also introduced “The Adolescent Education Programme”, in 2005 under the directives of MHRD to address the needs of adolescents concerning their health, and personality for holistic development. The top CBSE schools made a huge difference by taking on projects like Adolescence, discrimination, etc.
Most prominent CBSE schools give freedom to innovate and implement advanced methodologies. The CBSE-trained teachers put extra effort and consistently kept guiding, mentoring, and empowering young students with accurate, age-appropriate, and culturally relevant information, promoting healthy attitudes. The innovative way of imbibing and inculcating the values ??of kindness, patience, empathy, sympathy, sharing, respect for elders, a sense of responsibility, and unpretentiousness with assigned authority are a few things that should be ingrained in the minds of the youth of the age to keep them firmly on the road of life.
Most prominent CBSE schools give freedom to innovate and implement advanced methodologies. The CBSE-trained teachers put extra effort and consistently kept guiding, mentoring, and empowering young students with accurate, age-appropriate, and culturally relevant information, promoting healthy attitudes. The innovative way of imbibing and inculcating the values ??of kindness, patience, empathy, sympathy, sharing, respect for elders, a sense of responsibility, and unpretentiousness with assigned authority are a few things that should be ingrained in the minds of the youth of the age to keep them firmly on the road of life.
Conclusion: CBSE is more student-friendly and now also interesting to study in comparison to the state boards. Its course structure is designed to ensure that students do not face a lot of pressure and that books are made interactive and interesting. Also, lots of fun activities are included in between the content to help students learn a unique way to not only acquire knowledge but also sharpen their skills. It makes the whole process of conveying knowledge to the students efficient and healthy. CBSE enables the students to apply their learning in real-life situations. These skills include problem-solving skills, empathy, communication skills, articulation, logical reasoning, and justification. I strongly believe that CBSE education is important to advance students’ skills by providing them with ample opportunities.