What is the International Baccalaureate programme?

The International Baccalaureate (IB) is a globally acclaimed and recognized educational programme, originally introduced in the United Kingdom to meet the pedagogy needs of diplomats' children who had traveled to new countries across the world with their expatriate parents. Now recognized as a superior educational programme that encourages inherent creative thinking and independent learning, the International Baccalaureate uses English as a medium of instruction. The IB programme is suitable for 5 to 18-year-old students, using a curriculum that is different from that of the national curriculum in which the school is located, with a staff of expatriate teachers and administrators. The schools are commonly referred to as International schools.

The IB programme is estimated to be taught in around 124 countries, with approximately 1,876 schools. The programme is designed to meet the A-level educational needs of the students and has international recognition all over the world. For students who aim to join universities, an IB programme gives them the advantage to do so in whichever country they wish to attend university in.

A student who wants to earn an IB diploma has to go to an IB-approved school and meet the established criteria, and the set benchmarks in all the levels. All the stages are integrated for standardization, mostly to allow for smooth assimilation for students that relocate from one location to another consistently. Both the subjects and skill levels taught emphasizes respect of values and contributions from other communities.

A student who does not want to cover the whole course is usually allowed to take a few IB classes without doing the entire diploma programme. Most schools do not allow students who were not a recognition candidate to undertake IB classes; it is usually advisable for any student and parent to first check the school policy before attendance.

Advantages of an International Baccalaureate programme

1. The programme is designed to offer the best pre-college orientation.
2. It offers options for students to select topics of their choice and build on their particular skills and talents.
3. The IB programme has a global and international focus.
4. IB programmes allow its students to pursue their passion and interests.
5. IB programmes are available in different locations worldwide and is recognized globally.
6. Higher acceptance rates - students who have gone through IB programmes are most likely to be accepted by universities and colleges.
7. It opens up a broad range of opportunities and scholarships.
8. It inculcates lifelong learning and knowledge.
9. The IB program eliminates a dependency mentality by using IB strategies, which teach the students to be independent.
10. It helps the students to become risk-takers by dealing with unfamiliar situations and uncertainties, by showing the students to venture into new ways of doing things and exploring ideas and becoming more expressive to defend their beliefs.
11. It develops creativity and imagination in handling everyday dilemmas and problems.
12. The IB programme gives self-assurance and confidence to the students with their abilities.
13. The IB programme trains its students to explore concepts and issues which have a local and global impact which will, in turn, help them to acquire in-depth knowledge and understanding of various disciplines.
14. The graduates of an International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme are trained up to be principled individuals who stand and act with integrity and honesty, coupled with an astonishing sense of fairness and respect for other persons, groups, and even communities.
15. The level of understanding built among the graduates of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme equips them to project themselves into another person’s situation to understand that particular person’s reasoning and emotions over a given condition.

The difference between International Baccalaureate programme and Advanced Placement (AP) education programme

1. The International Baccalaureate programme is well-rounded and offers a wider worldview. The Advanced Placement (AP) education programme mostly consists of multiple choice and only covers one particular area.
2. The IB programme is most preferred and accepted worldwide as compared to the AP programme.
3. The IB is a well-rounded education by the opinion of many because the student is required to undertake and submit a well-written essay or document, which will entail the final IB score. The score will be in addition to the exam at the end of the course. On the other end, the AP programme focuses heavily on the test material.

Derek Tan writes articles relating to education. Please visit Canadian International School for more information.

Derek Tan writes articles relating to education. Please visit Canadian International School for more information.