02/05/2014
It was once meant for the , central and northern states.
Over the years, the flexible CBSE syllabus has found its way into the conservative education system of the south.
Last year, around 80 new CBSE schools were started in Tamil Nadu. While the state syllabus is considered easier when it comes to scoring marks to enter engineering colleges, the syllabus framed by Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is in demand among parents who want a strong base for their children.
"The number of is going up in many states. There has been a significant growth in Tamil Nadu," said CBSE director D T S Rao. In the last year, the number of CBSE schools in the city has grown to more than 140.
Many parents now prefer CBSE schools for reasons ranging from academic freedom to convenient transfer options if they get jobs outside the state and innovative learning methods. Many parents now move cities for work and want their children to be able to keep up with a syllabus that is followed across the country.
"Parents flock to CBSE schools because of the concept-based approach to teaching rather than the rote learning of the state board syllabus," said , dean of the Vel's Group of Schools. After the merging of matriculation, state, Oriental and Anglo-Indian boards after the introduction of samacheer kalvi, schools switched allegiance to CBSE and
started seeking affiliation. In comparison to samacheer kalvi, CBSE is considered more challenging. Parents with big plans for their children pick it for competitive exam training.
"All the national competitive exams are based on the CBSE syllabus and most schools under the board train children for JEE," said a parent of a Class 1 student from a popular school in Chetpet. Further, the state school fee regulation has made private CBSE schools affordable. Before schools
were brought under the fee structure in 2012, these schools were seen as out of reach of the middle class.