JEDDAH: Reforms are to be introduced in schools affiliated with India’s Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and located in Gulf countries, including the Kingdom.

The CBSE has, starting from the 2010-2011 academic year, decided to introduce an international curriculum for schools affiliated with its program outside India, said sources. The pilot project will be introduced in 25 schools for classes 1 and 9. International Indian School Jeddah (IISJ) is one of the schools that have been selected.

Salahuddin Kardan, chairman of the management committee of the IISJ, confirmed that his school is one of the pilot schools. “I’m hoping that the results will be very effective,” he said.

CBSE is the body that controls secondary education in India. It is thought that the present CBSE system focuses on short-term examination and not the overall personality of students. It is to fill these shortcomings that the Indian government is introducing an international curriculum and a system of Continuous and Compressive Evolution (CCE).

The new system will help prepare young boys and girls for changes taking place in society. The CCE system would considerably reduce anxiety and stress in children, since competition would give way to cooperation. It will also help students work together as a team rather than compete with each other.

Meanwhile, Vineet Joshi, chairman of CBSE, New Delhi, delivered a keynote speech at a three-day Conference of Principals in CBSE Affiliated Schools in the Gulf Region. The conference, which concluded on Sunday in Muscat, was attended by 120 principals or their delegates from the six Gulf countries. Syed Masud Ahmed, principal of the International Indian School Jeddah, was one of those who attended the conference in Oman.

The CBSE Affiliated Schools Regional Council for the Gulf also elected a new committee at the conclusion of the conference; Neelam Upadhyaya, principal of the Indian School in Al-Ain, UAE, was elected the council’s chair.

There are approximately 30,000 Indian students studying in CBSE affiliated schools in Saudi Arabia.