Campus Watch: Two of Pune’s oldest schools switch to CBSE from state board

Following scores of old institutions in the city which shifted to the CBSE in the past few years, now Dr Cyrus Poonawalla English Medium School in Rasta Peth and Motilal Talera English Medium School in Moshi have joined the list of SSC-medium (secondary school certificate) institutions under the Maharashtra state board that have made the switch. Though it still caters to the middle-class, the CES has made the switch after realising the demand for a more modern curriculum and better infrastructure.

CES chairman Walchand Sancheti said the move was necessitated to stay updated with the current times. “The other schools around the Moshi campus are mostly affiliated to the CBSE board and hence the demand came from parents. Even in Rasta Peth, the parents wanted us to switch to CBSE board because they aren’t too many affordable CBSE board schools there. Why the board is preferred by parents may have many reasons. One needs to adapt and evolve with the times,” he said.

Stating that the CBSE is a nationalised board and most competitive exams are structured around its curriculum, members of the society said students who study under the central board have an edge over others. The curriculum is updated more often with hands-on, practical study-based learning with a lot of projects, field trips, skill development and co-curricular activities, which is preferred by parents.

With more than 1,000 students enrolled in each of the two CES campuses, the schools have had to undergo a lot of changes to conform to CBSE norms. A refurbished and renovated school building, airy classrooms with a lesser student-to-teacher ratio, new e-learning facilities and laboratory, reading room and language labs, lockers for students to store their materials and air-conditioned digital classrooms are just some of the perks that the students will now get to enjoy.

To keep up with the CBSE’s demand, the number of co-curricular activities is also being increased and will include taekwondo and vedic maths to abacus, guitar classes and more.

The facilities, however, will come at a cost. While the annual fees for an SSC school is Rs 25,000, which is a little above Rs 2,000 a month, the fees for the CBSE section will be Rs 50,000 a year.

While the society has attributed the cost to the additional facilities, like air-conditioned classrooms, e-learning and packed lunches provided to students, for parents who may not agree with the switch it has offered the choice to let their children continue under the state board.