Dubai: The Central Board of Secondary Education in India plans to rank its affiliated schools based on the performance of their pupils in science and mathematics.
The rating system will be initiated soon to enable schools in India to compete better internationally. There are 9,581 CBSE schools worldwide, including 50 in the UAE.
Ashok Ganguly, chairman of CBSE in New Delhi, said schools will have to submit 20 of its best pupils from grade 4, 5 and 8 for a special test. Schools will be rated based on their performance.
The aim is to see whether schools in India are up to the mark to compete in international competitions. The chairman of CBSE said the board will require affiliated schools to submit the names of 20 of its best pupils from grades 4, 5 and 8.
These pupils will be given a test. The list of best performing schools will be based on the test results.
The plan has sparked a debate among principals and parents. Most of them said rating schools on the basis of two subjects is unfair. Some felt that ranking schools will motivate pupils as well as the schools.
"Ranking schools will provide a better idea to parents to decide on which school their child should attend," Ashok Kumar, Principal of Indian High School, Dubai.
"Mathematics, science and a language are core subjects which form the basis of any education. I feel such rankings will provide parents with a list of schools that are rated high in performance,: he said.
However, V.K. Mathu principal of Abu Dhabi Indian School said it is unfair to rank schools because not all are on a par with each other in terms of infrastructure and accessibility to learning tools.
Rani George, principal Global English School, Al Ain, said all subjects should be given equal importance.
By Sunita Menon, Staff Reporter