Mallika Subramanium, principal, Navy Children School: I think we should go for one board, one curriculum because it gives scope for the majority of the population. This is the only place you see state boards, global boards, central boards, etc. We need a common board till Std X at least.
I'm not in favour of scrapping the board exams because we see so many changes coming up. Students are getting smarter, what with all the technology coming in. I think they should face competition, they should be prepared to give exams. In fact, they should be prepared from grade 8. We cannot stress out children, so we need to change and redesign the curricula. Make the curricula simpler and let them appear for the Std X exam.
Avnita Bir, principal, RN Podar School: We are living in a globalised world and boundaries are disappearing. So why is it that we move from one state to another and the child has to cope with the jump from one board to another? We are not making the mobility of parents and children easy. We like to think of our school as a melting pot for children from different parts of the country and, maybe, the world. And when they come in, it becomes so difficult. They have to adapt to a new board, a new language. So when we are talking about boundaries disappearing and the world becoming smaller, then why should education be isolated?
Mallika Subramanium: Why should education be a state subject? It should be the responsibility of the Centre.
Sunita George, vice-principal, RN Podar School: One board is a great idea because if you look at it, every board deals with the same topics and concepts, only the approaches are different. Why waste so much time? Today, if they want to join a certain course, they have to go through a competitive exam because they all come from different boards. Once we have one board, a lot of issues such as college admissions will be solved and everybody will be on one level. As it is, the curriculum is more or less the same.
Avnita Bir: Parents are confused about the differences between one board and another. They come and ask me, how does CBSE differ from ICSE. Now there is one more board, international. So I think too many options create a lot of confusion among parents.
Suresh Pawar, Bhausaheb Hiray Vidyalaya: Ek hi board hona chahiye. Board ek hone se admission ka bhi problem barabar hota hai. Evaluation ka problem bhi sahi hota hai. Lekin, board exams cancel nahin karna chahiye.
MS Sheela, principal, Ryan International School, Goregaon: We are a diverse country; we have so many states and regional languages. If you look at the boards also, state boards, ICSE, CBSE, second and third languages are a problem for parents when we have parents coming from other states. That is a major disadvantage. So, definitely, one board is the option for our country. The board schools work under the respective state governments. And the state government brings in its directive that students should learn a regional language. If the boards are uniform, then the admission problem will go away.
Archana Singh, Ryan Gobal School: When the curriculum is more or less the same, why are we wasting so many resources on different boards, different textbooks, different patterns of examination, and different grades of the evaluation system.
Ranjona Banerji: Most of the objections for one board are the logistical and practical problems in implementation. But we are first talking at the conceptual level. I'm afraid I'm not an educationist, so I'm unable to understand the diversity theory. As far as I can see, you have one country, with one people. If the question is of language, that adjustment can be made. Now if you have to make it rural-urban, that's not being addressed right now anyway, because each state has one board which is across the entire state. So having various boards is not helping rural children any more than it is helping urban children. Yes, we have had this whole influx of foreign boards, but they are a symptom of the dissatisfaction with the quality of education. If we had felt that our education at whatever board was of a high enough standard, would they have found an entrance? I mean, we are not exporting ICSE to England, or SSC, or any of our boards.
T Kalathinathan: I think we are being (unnecessarily) critical. Basically, we are trying to discuss whether one board is required. Logistics will come later. But we are trying to discriminate by bringing into the picture the rural-urban divide. Every state has cities and rural areas under the same board. So I don't know why people are discussing whether we should bring the level of urban people down.
God willing, a common evaluation methodology will be formulated and everyone will have to comply. You cannot have your own independent judgement up to the 10th level. At this stage, why criticise the strategy? If it is not implemented properly, fine, everyone will jump on that. But to start with, why go negative? Competition is there in one board too. Who says there won't be competition?
AK Hazra: We are forgetting the basic purpose of education: to discover a child. Why does the question of competition come here? The very concept of competition between this board and that is killing the creative instincts of a child.
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