CBSE or ICSE, Who Wins the Age-old Battle of Supremacy? Find the best Comparison here!
People give very high importance to educationin India. Whenever parents of two kids meet, irrespective of the age or standard in which the kid is studying, the parents’ discourse automatically turn towards their studies! That sounds funny, but it is definitely a good thing as education is the pillar to a better tomorrow. Though parents in our country always try to give best to their child in terms of education, but there is always confusion for parents to choose between CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) and ICSE (Indian Certificate of Secondary Education) boards. Very few know what are the difference between them and their education patterns, and the advantages and disadvantages of their education patterns. Thus we have trief to gather some details about both education patterns to make it easier for you to select right pattern for your child.
Merits of CBSE Board-
1.      CBSE is more popular in India as compared to ICSE.
CBSE being older, more schools follows CBSE pattern syllabus and education methods. That is why CBSE pattern is more popular here. This will help you to find a school easily for your kid in case you are switching to new city in India. Also, if you want to travel abroad then you will find more CBSE pattern Indian schools outside India than ICSE. CBSE is recognized by Indian government while ICSE is not. The popularity of ICSE is growing day by day though. Thus CBSE is recommended for parents who have to move in different cities in India as part of their job profiles. CBSE has more schools in India and their children will not face any issue while switching schools.
2.      CBSE has less syllabus volume as compared to ICSE
Some students may find ICSE syllabus vast as ICSE have more syllabus and subjects. A sixth grade ICSE student will face 12-13 subject examinations, while CBSE student will face only 5-6 subject examinations.
3.      CBSE board helps more in engineering and medical field
CBSE is more focused on math and science subjects. This helps students for engineering and medical entrance exams better. Prior CBSE experience will be always helpful for students doing their medical and engineering preparations.
4.      CBSE has more Scholarships and talent search exams
ICSE being newer has got less numbers of scholarship exams as of date. CBSE has lot of talent search examinations for a student. All major competitive examination in India are based on the CBSE syllabus. For ecample, JEE (Joint Entrance Examination) main and JEE-Advanced, AIEEE (All India Engineering Entrance Examination), AIPMT (All India Pre Medical Test) etc.
Merits of ICSE Board
1.      ICSE has more balanced Syllabus for child’s overall growth
CBSE syllabus is easier as compared to ICSE syllabus. CBSE syllabus is focussed more on Science and Maths. While on the other hand, the syllabus followed by the ICSE board is more comprehensive and complete that gives all fields equal importance. For ecample, maths, science, languages, art, home sciences, agriculture, cookery, fashion designing etc are all given importance. By choosing ICSE you are giving opportunity for your child to work on his overall growth.
2.      ICSE prefers to give more practical knowledge and teach better analytical skills
Compared to CBSE syllabus, ICSE is more inclined towards giving practical knowledge to the students. Their is an equal emphasis on providing theoretical a well as practical learning. This gives students effective understanding of subject, and they learn better analytical skills.
3.      In ICSE, student has more Subjects Flexibility
ICSE is having much advantage over CBSE in this. Students in ICSE can choose different subjects. Students ca also select vocational courses as per their interest. Whereas in CBSE, students have to follow pure academic subjects.
4.      ICSE prefers more student Assessments
In ICSE, the internal assessments are very crucial. More practical tests are conducted with all the subjects and scores. Thus ICSE gives more preference to lab work and hence it is more practicality oriented.
5.      ICSE board helps more on management carriers
The way the ICSE syllabus, its portions, its subjects and teaching methodology is designed, it is any day more helpful for students who wants to pursue their carriers in management streams, as compared to the CBSE board students.
6.      ICSE certificate is recognized around the world
Certificate given by ICSE to the students, is recognized more around the world, as compared to CBSE board. Overall syllabus of ICSE gives a slight upper hand in english to its students. Therefore it helpe them clear the scholarship exams better, especially ones that are based on English. ICSE is recommended for parents who have to move in different countries as part of their job and wish to enroll their children in international schools. ICSE is more compatible to the world as compared to CBSE syllabus. ICSE child will face less difficulty while changing his school internationally.
Common factors between CBSE and ICSE-
- CBSE and ICSE are both recognized by colleges in India.
- The main subjects taught in ICSE and CBSE are almost same.
- Quality of education provided by both boards is excellent.
- CBSE & ICSE both education patterns follows way of learning through experience. But, following methods defined in respective patterns always depends on the schools and teachers. Thus this can vary from school to school.
So, what should the parents do?
Both the boards, CBSE and ICSE, have their own merits and demerits. Parents have to choose the board for their children based up on what future they aspire for their children, and majorly on what future career interests their children. Parents always have concern with quality of education. Thus, for this, they should identify the best schools for their children, because whatever the board they would choose, ultimately the schools would play a larger role in imparting the right kind of education to their children.
Good comparison! Can we also have CBSE and CBSE-I comparison? Students studied in these two different curriculam will be treated at the same cut-off marks while admission in Indian universities?
I feel ICSE is a better choice for the students rather than CBSE pattern. since in INDIA cbse is more relevant and is simple ,competitive, but as far as Icse is concerned it is some how holds a great advantage over CBSE. But the syllabus is considerably tougher than CBSE. My son is studying at Inventure Academy International School for the last 3 years and I’m extremely happy about my decision of choosing Inventure schools. One thing which really stands out at Inventure is that the environment is very friendly and nuturing.
Is there sufficient trained teachers for ICSE in India? To be a ICSE teacher, what is the qualification they should have? As a parent, how to evaluate a school whether they has good trained & experienced teachers
I think ICSE is the best syllabus but in tamilnadu very less schools . I am very confused . CBSE school also very less in tamilnadu every where matric school there, but andhra there is every where CBSE school there. That why AP people’s are scoring comtitive exams huge.
yeah, you are right,
buy NCERT books and start preparing from that, see 70-90% syllabus is common from CBSE boards and other any ICSE or state boards 🙂
i like ur choice
ICSE is boring if it supports liberal arts and vocational courses. Also education is one thing in which INDIA is much ahead of the US and Europe as, at least in medical and engineering courses, the level of difficulty is very high in India. Don’t get fooled by the lists which show the rankings of iit on a global scale, these lists are highly biased as they try to undermine iits. I would recommend a purely academic and theoretical approach through CBSE and to continue in India upto PG. After that one can go abroad for better opportunities and good standard of life. This is just the show off and pomp and show of the urban India to go in ICSE schools. They just try to copy the American system of grades and credits because they are filled with complexes. What is the advantage of IB or Horse riding. Do you want to become a bounty hunter?????
NCERT surveyors visited 7216 schools, affiliated to all state boards and 2 national boards, and tested 277416 students on 5 subjects with a standard set of multiple questions. This survey by NCERT bolsters the reality that ICSE
students are far better than students of other boards. In the current wave of
competitions including IIT/JEE, somewhere it was believed mostly led by
coaching institutions & other vested interests, that CBSE should be the
preferred board for all to compete. Despite all the false propaganda by vested
interests, when we compare all the board students on a common platform (as was done by NCERT in this survey), ICSE outshine others in comparisons. If we compare
ICSE students with CBSE students on key subjects such as English, Science and
Mathematics, the differences are stark – ranging from 19% in Science, 22% in
Mathematics to 23% in English. However, the difference between ICSE and WB
Board students is staggering – ranging from 66% in Science, 53% in Mathematics
to 91% in English. The vested interests have led us to falsely believe that
ICSE board’s syllabus is not modern and up to date. However, the results are
for everyone to see. This survey benchmarks all the national and state boards
of the country on a common platform. It also serves as a bellwether to all
stakeholders of education – school administrators, teachers and most
importantly parents, to select a board that serves their purpose. Parents want
best for their children and ICSE affiliated school could be an ideal
first-school programme for your child to develop and compete in an
ever-competitive world. For details about the survey, please refer The
Telegraph, March 13, 2016.