Nine new courses in Cambridge schools

Students of schools which follow the University of Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) curriculum will have more choices from next year. The CIE will introduce new courses in 2009 at the A (Advanced)-level as well as International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE).

This includes Global Perspectives and Research (GPR) at the A-level and IGCSE International Mathematics and 21st Century Science.

“These new courses will naturally give a wider choice to students. While we cannot do away with conventional subjects, these will give students a new outlook and groom them in techniques not available before,” said Abha Dharam Pal, principal of Utpal Shanghvi School, Juhu.

Elaborating on GPR, Kevin Stannard, director of international curriculum development, CIE, said that the two-year course will enable students to develop critical thinking and research skills.

The topics in GPR will include ethics, economics, environment, technology, and politics and culture.

GPR will also have an “independent research component” for students. “The independent research report will focus on the ability to design, plan and manage a research project,” said Stannard.