CBSE or State Board – Which is Better Option for Your Child?

While most of the dilemmas pertaining to parenthood might have ceased to matter, there still remain a few which can have a huge effect on the future of the child. Education is of utmost importance for any individual, as it can define how high your child progresses in life. The importance of education can never be understated.

One of the common problems faced by Indian parents is choosing the board of education their child is going to be a part of. Considering the multitude of options and schools available around the country, it can be a really hard decision. Some of the frontrunners include the Central Board of Secondary Education, Indian School Certificate Examination and the State board where the parents are based out of. While each one has its advantages, this article will try to compare CBSE and the State board in a general manner.

Let us try to settle it- CBSE or State Board, which syllabus is the best?

CBSE vs State Board

It can be hard to compare these two syllabi, as they both have their own advantages and disadvantages. State boards cannot be generalised as they differ from state to state, but here we shall try to do so for the sake of this article.

1. In terms of involvement and ease of learning, CBSE trumps most state syllabi. While the state syllabi may be content heavy, the textbooks are usually difficult to read and contain heavy doses of details and facts. CBSE texts are constructed so that the students can understand the topics easily, and have a range of questions and activities between chapters to help students get a gist of what is being talked about. This makes way for more conceptual, sustainable education.

2. Many state syllabi blatantly expect their students to know everything in the texts- every single little detail. They promote the system of mugging up, and their exams measure how much the student has managed to memorise. In contrast, CBSE promotes conceptual learning among the students of the board. The questions asked during the exam are not answerable if the student has just learnt the text by heart- he needs to understand the concepts well in order to tackle most questions.

3. For higher education options, there is no board that helps the student as much as CBSE. The entrance examinations for both medicine and engineering are based out of the CBSE syllabus, and the questions are derived from the topics covered in NCERT textbooks. If you want your child to pursue his higher education in elite institutions like AIIMS or IIT/NITs, CBSE is definitely the board you should choose for your child. Right from the primary education levels, CBSE molds your child to tackle the entrance examinations which decide whether your child gets to be a doctor or an engineer.

4. If you want your child to get the highest marks in his board exams, the state board is a better choice compared to CBSE. Most CBSE exams are considerably harder than their state board counterparts, so the children may find the latter easier to study for. The evaluation also tends to be controlled strictly in the case of CBSE- high marks are harder to obtain, although they have great value. Contrarily, evaluation for state board exams are controlled by the state governments themselves, so it is a lot more common to find the children obtaining higher marks compared to their counterparts studying in the CBSE.

5. Syllabi in the CBSE are updated more often and tend to be more up-to-date and uniform compared to their state board counterparts. Also, the importance given to the state board may vary according to the state you are based out of- in Tamil Nadu, you can get admissions based simply on the performance of your child in the board exams, but in most other states, entrance exams are a must. Therefore, take into consideration the aims your child has or the aims you have for your child, before settling on a board for him.

Choosing the right board can definitely be extremely important for your child, in the long run. However, it does not mean that that is the only thing that matters in the development of your child- there are plenty of people who have been successful even after studying in the state board. It all depends on the attitude and capabilities of your child, more than the board itself. However, the better choice would be to go for CBSE over state board for the long-term development of the child.

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