ICSE students skip jr college, stick to school

This year the SSC Best Five policy will push the percentages of SSC students, while colleges will consider all seven subjects for ICSE students.

Anushka Duttagupta (16) who just finished her ICSE exams is thinking of continuing school instead of applying to junior college.

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“It seems SSC students get preference when they apply to junior colleges,” she said. Duttagupta is one of several ICSE students in the city considering completing Class 12 ISC exams from the same board. The city has 14 ISC schools. Four of these have added ISC sections in the last three years.

“We were keen to provide school education up to Class 12,” said Carl Laurie, principal of Christchurch School in Byculla. This growing popularity of ISC is possibly because of the annual anxiety students face while applying to state government junior colleges. ICSE parents have gone to court twice in the past two years over proposals that seek to ‘equalise’ marks for students from different boards.

This year the SSC Best Five policy will push the percentages of SSC students, while colleges will consider all seven subjects for ICSE students. “It’s a big concern that it’s becoming harder for ICSE students to get into junior colleges,” said Sanjita Prasad, whose daughter is in Class 8 at Vibgyor High School. “At this rate no one will enroll their children in ICSE schools.”

It’s also school atmosphere that parents prefer for their children. “It’s advisable for students to be in a monitored environment until a certain age,” said Seema Buch, principal of Gundecha Education Academy in Kandivli.

“It’s a world-class syllabus that is competitive, exam friendly and offers options that no other board does,” she added. ISC also offers flexibility of moving out of the state.