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If you are a class 10 student in Telangana and plan to study PCM (Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics) or MPC as they call it here, are you confused about where to join? Let’s look at the options.
A majority of the students who choose MPC in Telangana consider pursuing an Engineering degree, therefore the focus of this article will be on those lines. The options for students choosing Biology/Medical, Commerce/Humanities will be done in a separate article as your thought process will completely different if you want to choose those options.
Please note that this is based on personal experience and research, and the writer has not received any advertising fee or any remuneration for mentioning any particular school/board.
Boards for 11th and 12th Education in Telangana
There are mainly 5 options when it comes to the board or the governing body which fixes the syllabus and conducts the exams – to which the schools or junior colleges are affiliated to.
- Board of Intermediate Education, Telangana
- CBSE – Central Board of Secondary Education
- CISCE – Council for The Indian School Certificate Examinations.
- Cambridge Assessment – AS Level and A Level
- IB – International Baccalaureate
Let’s now look at each of these in detail.
Board of Intermediate Education, Telangana
The Telangana BIE is the state government’s board and most of the students in Telangana prefer this board because of various reasons.
Sheer numbers: The sheer number of junior colleges affiliated to BIE is far more than the others. Therefore most students choose this option.
Alignment to Entrance Exams: The BIE syllabus is in accordance with EAMCET – the state’s common entrance exam for engineering. In order to attract more students who complete 10th standard from other boards, the BIE’s syllabus is mostly similar to the NCERT syllabus.
Local Students’ preference: Students from non-English medium, who complete 10th standard in Telugu medium can easily find a Telugu medium junior college in 11th (Inter 1st year, as it’s called). With the introduction of English medium in schools from 2022, this is likely to reduce in future as more students will complete 10th with English as medium of instruction a few years from now.
The biggest and most controversial advantage with Intermediate Colleges is that, a lot of colleges are just entrance exam coaching centres. This means you don’t need to really attend classes for ‘board exams’. You are taught Maths, Physics and Chemistry completely from JEE point of view. You are taught to solve multiple choice questions, shortcut ways to solve tricky problems and involves a lot of learning formulae by-heart, enabling you to quickly solve entrance exam problems.
Some of these colleges only exist ‘on paper’. There’s no attendance requirement and language classes are held only before the board exams.
Focus is purely on entrance exams and there are fortnightly/monthly/quarterly tests which decide whether you are in the ‘top batch’ or not. The top batch ensures you get the best faculty who can help you crack JEE Advanced and get into an IIT. At times, this can be demotivating and stressful for students whose batch gets downgraded.
To be very honest, genuine learning takes a backseat and it’s a rat race to ace multiple choice exams.
CBSE – Central Board of Secondary Education
CBSE is an all-India board and preferred by many because of the alignment of the syllabus to JEE Syllabus. All the Kendriya Vidyalayas, Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs) and many private schools follow the CBSE syllabus.
When you join a CBSE based school for 11th and 12th, you need to note that this is a proper ‘school’ with its own extra curricular activities, sports etc. These are beneficial to the overall development of a student, but compared to the coaching class oriented model, these schools will focus on clearing the board exams and may not really help in getting into the entrance exam rigor.
You may have to join a separate coaching class for entrance exams and that will have to be on weekends or weekdays after school hours, leaving very less leisure time for self-study or relaxation. Following 2 parallel study paths – one in school and another in coaching class with their own separate tests can be stressful for the students. However, there are quite a few who balance both well or even prepare for entrance exams via self-study.
Many schools have understood this difficulty faced by students and in an attempt to prevent exodus of students to state board junior colleges after completing 10th, they have started offering entrance exam coaching in the school premises. Schools often tie up with corporate coaching classes or experienced teachers who offer entrance exam based coaching early morning or evening after the regular school hours. This will save the trouble of travelling to different places and may ensure that exams conducted by coaching class teachers and school term exams do not clash.
Another advantage of CBSE syllabus is the option to take computer science as an additional subject in place of second language as in the state board. This can prove to be an advantage when the student enters engineering college.
ISC – Council For The Indian School Certificate Examinations
The Indian School Certificate Exam is conducted by the Council For The Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE), which is a private board. The syllabus is mostly the same as the CBSE syllabus, but is more in depth and rigorous.
ISC schools are fewer in number than CBSE or state board schools, but many of them are offering entrance exam coaching along with regular school in order to attract students. ISC also allows the option to choose computer science in place of a second language.
Cambridge Assessment – AS Level and A Level and IB – International Baccalaureate
These are international boards and the syllabus may not completely match with the JEE syllabus. These schools are usually preferred by parents whose children were born abroad and have no plans to join the entrance exam rat race. Many such children have other countries’ citizenship and have the option to study their UG program abroad.
Many students with Indian citizenship also choose these boards if they plan to study abroad. Even if someone wants to go the JEE way, there’s nothing preventing these students from doing so. However, there could be a mismatch in curriculum. The academic calendar may not match the State board/CBSE/ISC calendars and you may not complete your school exactly in time for the UG programs.
These boards are internationally recognised and can help in securing direct admission to foreign universities.
Which board should I choose after 10th?
There’s no one-size fits all solution here. For the mental and physical well-being of students, it is necessary to have some extra curricular activities and sports, which purely entrance exam based integrated centres do not offer.
Most of these classes are conducted in poorly ventilated (some with AC) classrooms with hundreds of students packed inside. A student of one such school even mentioned to this writer that they do not even get time to visit the washroom! Another student said that he didn’t see sunlight for 2 years as he left for coaching at 6AM and returned at 6PM, the entire day spent inside an integrated coaching centre. Do you want yourself or your child to go through this? It’s your call.
Of course, there are students who badly want to get into an IIT, that they are willing to go through this pressure. For a normal fun-loving child, a regular school or junior college which offers some extra coaching within the campus by an experienced teacher would be the best option as it offers the best of both the worlds.
A fully motivated student will find a way to study, no matter where they join. Self-study and mental relaxation are very important when a student is preparing for a high pressure, high stake entrance exam. They need emotional support and an occasional break from it all for their mental well-being. If you are a parent reading this, avoid forcing your child into something they are not comfortable with. A lot of students go through the grind, crack the entrance and think it’s all over. But college is where the bigger struggle begins…and you surely don’t want the student to burn out before even starting.
Disclaimer: All views are personal.
