IB curriculum.
As more Indian families turn to the IB and Cambridge boards, one veteran educator believes the most important question is rarely which board to choose, but whether students are genuinely supported to succeed in it.
Karol Tóth, who recently joined the online academic mentoring platform Academio as its Chief Academic Officer, has spent more than two decades in international education. In a recent conversation, he spoke about where these curricula deliver, where the system falls short, and what families most often misunderstand.
The real gap isn't the curriculum
For Tóth, the programmes themselves are rarely the issue. Both IB and Cambridge, he says, are academically sound and internationally respected. The challenge lies in implementation and access to high-quality teachers. "A school may have brilliant infrastructure, but each child's experience depends on the subject experts who understand both their discipline and how students learn," he explains.
The questions that matter, he suggests, are practical ones: are students being taught skills alongside content? Can they conduct independent research and analyse sources, write the Internal Assessment, manage the Extended Essay, or revise effectively for Cambridge examinations? It was this gap that drew him to Academio and its ability to extend academic support beyond the walls of a single school. As CAO, he intends to continue streamlining and expand that work, so that students "everywhere receive academic support of the highest quality, be it in leading metropolitan schools or in smaller cities."
No longer just for the elite
The perception that the IB or Cambridge boards are meant only for expatriate families or the urban elite, Tóth notes, was probably more accurate twenty years ago. Today, greater awareness of alternative educational models and a rising aspiration for global higher education have widened its appeal. Online learning and tutoring, he adds, have reduced geographical barriers, opening up expert support once available to only a handful of schools.
A richer picture than a single exam
On India's recent examination integrity concerns, he is measured. The country has run examination-based selection successfully across many fields for a long time, he says, and the recent crisis will not change that. Still, he questions whether the ability to perform under pressure should be the defining measure of a student's potential. IB and Cambridge spread assessment across coursework, projects and oral presentations, producing "a richer picture of student achievement" - evidence of sustained performance over time that universities value.
More than a syllabus
That distinction, he believes, is what parents accustomed to thinking in marks and ranks often miss. "A syllabus tells students what to learn. A philosophy shapes how they learn, how they think and ultimately who they become," he says. The ability to communicate, think independently, show initiative and reflect tends to matter enormously later - at university, in careers and in life.
He is also quick to dispel the idea that these curricula serve only students headed abroad. Some of his strongest students chose Indian universities, an option strengthened by the growth of the country's leading private institutions, many of which actively value students from international boards. "IB and Cambridge are not international because they lead abroad," he says. "They are international because they cultivate skills that are relevant anywhere."
If there is one thing he wishes families understood, it is that success in these programmes is not about being the smartest student in the room. The students who thrive, he observes, are the most consistent, curious and self-directed - qualities that matter long after school, in a future that rewards those who can evaluate, communicate and apply information rather than simply reproduce it.
