தமிழ்நாடு மேல்நிலைப்பள்ளி முதுகலை பட்டதாரி ஆசிரியர் கழகம்

Chennai sees profusion of Cambridge schools

The city has always been known to be conservative when it comes to education, but now, the pace seems to be picking up, with the number of Cambridge schools and those with international, learner-centric curriculum coming up in the city.

In the past eight years, the number of Cambridge schools has increased almost ten-fold.

In 2004, the first Cambridge International Examination (CIE) school opened, and even in 2007, there were only two or three schools offering the Cambridge examination in the city.

Now, there are 27 schools, with several more waiting for approval, according to data available with the CIE Board.

“Since October, we have received over 50 expressions of interest, and our board needs to conduct inspections to see if the schools meet Cambridge Standards. Many of the schools that are interested in offering the Cambridge curriculum are waiting for their No Objection Certificate from the State government, which is a long process,” Ramesh Veluchamy, School Development Manager South India Cambridge University, said.

“My daughter is able to study political science with mathematics, physics and English literature, which is something none of the other schools will offer her,” says Hema, whose daughter is studying in Class III in a school on the OMR.

“The other advantage is that the syllabus is more learner-centric, so my daughter can study at her own pace, and is starting to think outside the box,” she added.

Parents and schools however say there are not enough good teachers available to do justice to the curriculum. Last year, when Class V student Praveen Kumar and his family moved here from Malaysia, his parents hunted for a Cambridge school since he was used to the curriculum.