Secondary Education is the second stage in the system of public education usually beginning with Class IX & X of during which education is differentiated in varying degrees according to the needs, interests, and aptitudes of the pupils. Secondary Education stage is important because it represents the gateway to a successful professional life and becomes important for their future living in a society. A second facet for the importance of this stage is that it is the bridge between the general formation of the mind and personality which school education is and the higher learning specializations which the college and university representatives. This stage is both a criterion of the school system and the forecaster of the learning futures of the university.
Finally, it is at this period that character begins to be formed, character as a multifaceted expression of the effective, the slow learning of the vocational and the boundless vistas opened up by the spiritual and the intellectual. It is these many facets of human personality at its formative stage that the secondary stage subserves.
At the Senior Secondary level (Class XI & XII), the curriculum shifts its emphasis from general to core subject-focused specialized content. The concepts in different disciplines are dealt with in depth and rigor. This is a stage where students identify their subjects of interest for future learning and get a better understanding of their career path. Thus, at this stage, they are better informed to select the subjects and streams of their choices and aptitude.
The curriculum emphasizes basic facts and conceptual understanding, processes and skills, application of knowledge acquired, use of technology, etc. While the curriculum focuses on achieving this subject based objectives, it also develops a positive attitude to think and analyze logically, reasoning abilities, problem-solving approaches, and interdisciplinary learning. These stages of curriculum delivery in Senior Secondary section emphasize on knowledge construction.
Schools offer the Humanities Stream, Science Stream, the Commerce Stream, the Vocational Stream, and Language. The focus is on self-learning and experiential learning so that the students are prepared to take on college studies in the future.
