Mumbai to get India's first civic-run Cambridge-run school soon

Mumbai is set to become the first city in India to have a Cambridge-affiliated municipal school that will be free to its residents and impart quality education and learning to students.

The inclusion of an international board makes for a special moment in the history of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and will go a long way in developing a strong culture of teaching and learning to students of Mumbai Public Schools.

Over the academic years 2020-21 and 2021-22, a total of two CICSE (ICSE Board) and 12 CBSE Mumbai Public Schools were successfully established and are now educating students through the online mode.

Opening of the first ICSE School in 2020-21 witnessed a huge demand for admissions, leading to a lottery system being introduced for student enrolment.

With the school heads and teachers ensuring that best quality education is provided as prescribed by the concerned boards, these municipal schools have come to be known as ‘beacons of knowledge’ within the community.

Raising the bar in strengthening quality education among Municipal Schools, Maharashtra Minister of Tourism, Environment and Protocol Aaditya Thackeray had recommended that India’s first Cambridge affiliated municipal school be established in Mumbai.

“It is my dream to ensure that every child, beyond the economic capacity or background, has access to world-class education in all municipal schools and to free education,” Thackeray said.

Traditionally, the BMC has managed schools affiliated to the Maharashtra State Board and the State Education Department has been continuously working on reforms in these existing schools in Mumbai.

With this thought, the journey of establishing multiple national curriculum boards in Mumbai Public Schools was pursued by Thackeray, who believed that this would ensure equity and equality in learning opportunities, thereby strengthening diversity and inclusion among all our school students in Mumbai, a release said.