Two schools will send new forms to students next week with changed subject combinations incorporating the changes in ISC (Plus-II) announced by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE).
Two schools sent out subject combination options this week.
Principals said most schools had already offered subject combinations to students in January but with the council announcing the changes this week, they will have to be modified.
The CISCE on Wednesday said students will have to pass in English and four subjects instead of English and three subjects, which used to be the norm.
Students can choose between English and Modern English, and Math and applied math, the council said.
The changes come into effect from exam year 2027, which means they have to be implemented from the academic year beginning 2025.
South City International School and National Gems Higher Secondary School sent out the new subject combinations on Friday and Saturday.
“For two days, we conducted various internal meetings before deciding the subject combinations. We have decided to offer six subjects, including English, at the Plus-II level instead of English and four subjects, which we were doing so far,” said Keya Sinha, principal, National Gems Higher Secondary School.
La Martiniere for Boys and St Augustine’s Day School Shyamnagar are among
the schools that are expected to send out new forms to students next week.
“We had a meeting this week and decided to offer six subjects instead of five. With five subjects, there was a choice available to children that reduced the chances of a student failing an exam or not performing well. So now, with the council making it mandatory to pass in five subjects (English and four), our students will have to take six subjects,” said John Stephen, acting principal, La Martiniere for Boys.
Many schools offer streams or subjects to students based on the pre-board results. “We have qualifying marks based on the pre-boards. However, we don’t inform the students about it until the ICSE exams end,” a principal said.
South City International School has sent the new subject combinations but will send the syllabus to parents next week.
“We feel parents should know the syllabus of the subjects before students make their choice,” said Satabdi Bhattacharjee, principal, South City International School.
Sinha of National Gems said they had students pursuing bioscience who were struggling with math. Applied math would be an easier option for them, she said. “For English, we expect students pursuing science to opt for Modern English and so, we can split the classes accordingly.”
Several schools said they would wait till the end of the ICSE exams before informing parents or students about the changes. Several said they did not want to disturb them during the boards.
The ICSE exam started on February 18 and will finish on March 27.
Last updated on 16 Feb 2025
