It’s official now. Students who pass out of Class 10 examinations conducted by the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) board will be considered to have a qualification equivalent to the state’s Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC), the state government has announced.
The new move will benefit IGCSE students seeking admission to pre-university (PU) courses in the state.
The IGCSE is an internationally recognised secondary schooling qualification developed by Cambridge University.
Over 230 schools in the country offer IGCSE. Twentyfive of these are in the city alone. The number of Indian students writing the Cambridge examinations has grown by over 27% this year.
In a recent official communique to the IGCSE board, the state department of pre-university education has said that Class 10 of IGCSE would be equivalent to the state’s SSLC.
Officials from the PU education department told DNA that the letter was a fallout of a request made by the IGCSE board.
The letter has been addressed to Anil Bakshi, India recognitions manager, University of Cambridge international examination. “The request from the board for an official announcement in this regard had been kept pending for long. We have now considered it,” the official said.
“All these days, students clearing theClass X examination of the IGCSE were being considered for admission to PU courses in the colleges affiliated to our department. But the arrangement was informal. From this academic year, it becomes official, said PU department officials.
“Most neighbouring states, including Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, have issued
official letters to the IGCSE board making similar announcements long back. But we took almost two years to agree,” the official remarked.
“We have been waiting for this announcement for a while now. Last year some of our students faced a problem while seeking admissions to PUC. This decision by the department will help IGCSE students,” said Arcot Ajay Sekar, official, Indus International School.
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