Myths Surrounding International Schools in India

If you search for ‘schools in Worli

• schools in Bandra’ or ‘schools in Andheri’, you’ll realise that many of the top schools in Mumbai are offering international curriculums. And this holds true for all metro cities across India, as well as many Tier 2 cities. Top international schools across the country are primarily offering 2 international curriculums – the International Baccalaureate (IB) and the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE), both of which have seen an immense amount of popularity amongst Indian parents and students.

While international schools have definitely made a place for themselves in the Indian education system, some people still hesitate to enrol their child in top international schools due to certain myths. Read on to know more about these myths and the contrasting reality.

Myth 1: After graduating from an international curriculum, a student has no option but to go abroad for further studies.

This is definitely untrue. While the syllabus and grading mechanisms of international curriculums differ from those of the ICSE, CBSE and state boards, the international boards have worked closely with Indian education experts and government representatives to ensure that students graduating from these boards can continue studying in India. One of the measures taken is to provide a standardised grading system – For example, although the IB scores its students out of a total of 42 points, with maximum 7 points for each of the subjects, there is a system in place to get a standardised score against your IB score that will help you secure admission in an Indian university. When these curriculums were first introduced in India, there were some teething issues in terms of acceptance, but today, they are widely recognised and accepted by Indian universities.

Myth 2: International schools are meant only for the elite class

When international schools were first established in India a couple of decades ago, the first people to move their children to these schools were of a certain income class. So, yes, schools in Worli and other upmarket areas of Mumbai and other cities did first see mostly children from a certain economic and social background attending them. However, this was mainly because these parents had prior understanding of international curriculums like the IB and the IGCSE, and their many benefits. Today, children from various economic and social backgrounds are attending top international schools. So, the myth that international schools are only for children of the uber rich, celebrities or foreigners is definitely not true.

Myth 3: International schools are very expensive

If you spend some time researching schools from different curriculums that pop up in search engine results when you search for ‘best school close to me’, you’ll realise that in most cases, the top schools across education boards have similar fees. This is because schools charge as much for the in-classroom experience as for the plethora of co-curricular and extra-curricular opportunities that they offer.

Myth 4: Students from international schools don’t do well in competitive exams

Many people believe that international schools focus more on experiential learning rather than theoretical learning of concepts, resulting in their students being unable to excel at competitive exams, such as nation-wide entrance exams for medical and engineering colleges. However, this isn’t true – International curriculums like the IB and the IGCSE offer a structured balance of theoretical and practical learning opportunities, and many students from these boards do extremely well at exams like the IIT-JEE every year. In fact, students from international schools sometimes have an edge in this area as they are taught skills like reasoning abilities that help immensely in such exams, as well as at university and during their professional journey.

Now that you know the truth behind these myths surrounding international schools in India, you can do a quick Google search for ‘best school close to me’ to get an idea of the various top international schools around you.

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