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The Collection Wed, 14 May 25 |
Multiple stories, multiple perspectives, one theme worth your time—every week. |
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Not too long ago, the aspirational Indian parent’s ambitious bet for their child was to enroll them in a CBSE or ICSE school. Conventional wisdom held that the former was more rigorous, the other more holistic. Millions of others who didn’t choose either would put their children through one of the countless state boards patchworked across the country’s education tapestry.
That array of choices is no longer as limited.
When more schools throw open their doors this June, a higher number of Indian students than ever will walk into classrooms in international schools—those offering either the International Baccalaureate (IB) or Cambridge (IGCSE) curriculum. The reasons remain much the same as we reported two years ago.
The number of IB schools has surged since the pandemic and is only likely to soar further. Because parents are using international schools as a springboard to send their children overseas for higher education.
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Fatigue from the outdated rote-based learning system of local boards, higher aspirations, and easy availability of loans are why even middle-class families are increasingly admitting their children to schools offering IB or IGCSE curriculum.
India now hosts the second-highest number of international schools in the world, says ISC Research. Around 1,000.
But are graduates of these institutions really as far ahead of their peers as their parents wanted? What about the expense? And are international schools the only new choices available to parents? This week’s edition of The Collection is about all of that and more.
International schools in India come in some interesting varieties. Some of those most tuned to the results-focused demands of Indian parents even offer a mix of the IB and Cambridge curricula as students progress through grades.
But nigh all of them charge exorbitant fees.
Depending on the grade the child is in, an education at such schools can cost Rs 5–20 lakh per annum. And while some keen-eyed fintechs have jumped in with zero-cost EMIs for school fees, both students and parents can also struggle with the “cultural fit” because of how learning and progress are approached by the IB and IGCSE boards.
Indians can’t get enough of international schools. The fees aren’t their only problem
Even middle-class families are increasingly enamoured with International Baccalaureate-affiliated schools. But ask educators, and they’ll tell you there’s more than costs to consider
Parents and fintechs love school-fee loans. So why are schools not all in?
At no extra costs and with freebies like ice-creams and movie tickets, school-fee loans should be easiest to sell. Yet, half a dozen fintechs are learning the hard way—cracking the profitability equation isn’t an easy one here
Is all that investment really paying off, though?
If international schools are so much better than their Indian-board counterparts, why do some startups think offering coaching to their students is a promising business?
And not just any startup: Sparkl—the new venture of Aakash Chaudhry, the CEO of OG test-prep giant Aakash Institute—is leading the charge.
“Essentially, Sparkl’s success lies where international schools fail,” wrote my colleague Atul Krishna in his feature story this month. If you haven’t caught it yet, it’s a must-read.
Aakash Chaudhry made millions off the IIT craze. His new target: international schools’ unhappy parents
With Sparkl, the former CEO of Aakash Institute bets on these schools' inadequacies and our obsession with private tutoring
Despite the high demand for a more global education, foreign schools setting up shop in India don’t have it particularly easy. For instance, when a wave of legacy British boarding schools landed in the country a couple of years ago (including the alma mater of India’s first PM Jawaharlal Nehru), they had to learn to adjust to Indian realities.
The demands of Indian parents have also led to some decisions. For example, Leale pointed out that students in the UK’s Harrow School have their boarding houses on public streets. And they hoof it to classrooms and sports fields.
“That’s something which would make Indian parents very nervous. They are very concerned about the safety of their children. So, we have well-established boundary walls here. Even the boarding houses, which are separate for boys and girls, are strictly monitored,” he said.
Our 2023 story explores it all in fine detail.
Elite UK schools land in India, get schooled in local realities
Harrow International School and Wellington College International are learning to reconcile their illustrious legacy with fussy Indian parents and strict state laws
Indian elite institutions such as Doon and Mayo, which are losing students to international schools, are putting up a fight—from implementing changes in the curriculum to widening their pool of prospective students.
Doon and Mayo College’s fight to stop the elite exodus to IB schools
With new-age international schools popping up in cities, age-old Indian boarding schools need to buck up to stay in the race
Besides, international schools are not the only players in town when it comes to alternative schooling options.
Enter microschools.
Does the future of learning lie in tiny hubs, where each teacher caters to fewer students? What’s the promise here? And how big is the market? We explored the answers to these questions in a piece published in 2024.
Would you send your child to a ‘microschool’ with just 50 students?
Wealthy parents ditched Indian exam boards for international ones, but now they want more: un-classrooms
Do write to [email protected] if you’d like to share any thoughts or feedback with us, or leave a comment on our website.
As always, you can find this week’s entire collection below.
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Rahul leads the promotion and distribution efforts for the journalism produced by The Ken. He works at the intersection of the publication's editorial and business operations.
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