The full Form of ICSE is the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education. The ICSE (Indian Certificate of Secondary Education) is one of India’s most recognized boards for school education, established in 1958. It provides schooling from 1st to 10th standard and is managed by CISCE (Council of Indian School Certificate Examination), a non-governmental education board. This council is responsible for conducting examinations at the end of the 10th standard. There are around 2300 CISCE-affiliated schools in India.
With an aim to build analytical skills and infuse practical knowledge among students, the ICSE involves a more detailed study and a well-structured and more comprehensive syllabus relative to other boards. Moreover, the curriculum proposed is more inclined towards application-based knowledge of theoretical concepts and gives more weightage to real-life ideas for an in-depth understanding of the subjects.
History of ICSE
The Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) was established in 1958 by the inter-state Board for Anglo-Indian Education. In 1973, the board was renamed the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination(CISCE) and was recognized by the Indian government as a national board of education. Since then, the CISCE has been conducting the ICSE examination for students in class 10th (since 1970), the Indian School Certificate(ICS) examination for students in the 12th class(since 1977), and the Certificate of Vocational Education(since 1996). The National Level Sports and Games were introduced by CICSE in 24 Disciplines. Its headquarters is in New Delhi.
Features of ICSE
Some of the key features of the ICSE board are as follows:
- Comprehensive Curriculum: Includes a broad range of subjects across different disciplines including Mathematics, Science, Social Science, Language and Arts. Therefore, offers a strong foundation in all key subjects.
- Emphasis on Conceptual Understanding: Greater emphasis on conceptual understanding rather than rote learning. Therefore, encourages a deep understanding of the underlying concepts and principles in each subject.
- Analytical Thinking: The ICSE curriculum encourages analytical thinking and problem-solving skills.
- Practical Skills: Greater emphasis on the development of practical skills including laboratory work, field trips, and project-based learning.Focuses on hands-on experience and application of theoretical knowledge in practical situations.
- Focus on Language Skills: One of the goals of the ICSE board is to enhance language proficiency in students, including English and various other Indian languages.
ICSE Curriculum Details
- The ICSE gives equal importance to all subjects, including language, arts, and humanities. Further, it also focuses on extra-curricular activities, allowing students to enhance their other skills apart from academics.
- Though all the affiliated schools can choose the textbooks for classes 1 to 5 independently, there are some predefined guidelines set for the related syllabus that the schools must follow.
- Unlike junior classes, for classes from 6 to 10, ICSE provides a list of books from which the schools can choose. In addition, each subject involves theme-based learning, which aims to identify a child’s skills and direct them to productivity from various projects and experiences.
- 20% of the total marks for each subject are devoted to internal assessments to build a strong foundation for a better understanding of complex concepts.
Conclusion
The ICSE board’s goal is to give students a complete and fair education that gets them ready for college and the challenges of today. They focus on helping students think critically, solve problems, learn practical things, and become good at languages. Many universities and schools everywhere accept the ICSE board’s program, which makes it easy for students to study abroad. In general, the ICSE board wants to give students a well-rounded education that makes them feel sure of themselves and ready to be responsible citizens of the world.