‘Board’ to the Point of Tears..

Ask any parent to recount the most nerve-wrecking experience of their lives.  Apart from undergoing the agony of  securing an admission for their child into a good school, arriving at a decision to choose the school board, should top the charts. Not until long ago, choices were fairly straight forward; most of the parents would just enroll their children in a nearby school, which would most often be a state-board and a fraction of people opting for CBSE (mostly in north India) and fewer still would opt for CISCE. 

Slowly, as disposable incomes rose, private schooling started gaining popularity, and with it rose the popularity of CISCE, CBSE and also international school boards - IGCSE, IB. As schools began segregating methodologies as early on as Grade 1, the pressure to opt for the ‘best’ board for the child became perhaps the most important decision a parent had to take. Mind you - trying to gauge the potential of a five-year old or predicting his/her aptitude for what he would be ten years hence should definitely come with superhuman powers. 

While the paranoia is understandable given the competitiveness that exists now and the plethora of options has ironically only compounded to the confusion, it is imperative parents realize that ultimately, choice of a board doesn’t matter much, not at Grade 1 at least, when a child is still to be encouraged to actively explore and discover his surroundings at his pace. Much has been written about the various pros and cons of every board, so I will not delve into it in this post. However, here are my thoughts that I share with parents who seek my opinion on the matter - 

1. Focus on holistic development of child. It would be best to not harbor hopes of making your preschooler a doctor or a surgeon or an engineer. The world is opening up in far more ways we can imagine. Do not try to cloud your child’s potential with your limited perspective and understanding of a field. Needless to say that learning should be holistic to be complete. Apart from academics, sports, performing arts should be given good if not equal weightage and hence there should be a variety of options until grade 4 where a child starts getting inclined to specific interests. That doesn’t mean however that one enrolls their children in hundred different classes to tap their potential. But a child must be empowered to make a choice after a certain age.   

2. Boards aren’t set in stone! Guess what? You could always change from one board to another comfortably up to say Grade 7. Post that, with a little bit of extra coaching and guidance a child should do well to adapt to the curriculum. What needs to be encouraged is the process of learning that s/he is used to. For e.g., if a child has mostly relied on rote learning, then yes, shifting to an international curriculum could definitely bring a fair share of hiccups, since it delves more on discovery, questioning and assessment. However, if the process of learning has focused on the learner then it shouldn’t be a problem. Also, one must focus on choices that are going to be sustainable and consistent and that have a proven track record in being so - and by that it doesn't mean which board produces maximum number of toppers. It means opting for a fair, balanced and consistent framework. Far too many changes at a policy level only stresses the child and leads to the confusion. It is unfortunate that our education system is still grappling with rigid frameworks and sloppy processes leading to ad-hoc changes and complete mismanagement. 

3. In the long run, the board doesn’t matter as much as tapping the child’s aptitude and also the way the curriculum is disseminated in the school for deriving success. Every board comes with its pros and cons and in a way is crafted as per various learning styles. It may get impossible to predict which board will suit your child’s aptitude. But it is a no-brainer that in this 21st century world, one must opt for a board that emphasizes on critical thinking, continuous learning, innovative assignments and self learning and discovery. This is important since in the future, the present skills and knowledge are going to be extremely redundant. The world over, holistic development and teaching of life skills is gaining predominance. Having said that, a board alone can’t manufacture geniuses or achievers. 

Choosing a board doesn’t guarantee your child will turn into a rocket scientist or an artist. History is replete of plenty of achievers attending modest public schools in obscure villages of the country, some even not having had access to good formal education and some even dropping out of prestigious institutions going on to be acknowledged as top achievers. So, relax. Breathe. And opt for what you think is the best option you can give you child. You could always change the board later on, as and when the child starts developing clear interests and aptitude. If there is a magic keyword, it is this - Love - Love for learning; if a child has developed a lifelong love for learning, that is more than half the battle won.