Distinguishing Aspects of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

If you type ‘best school close to me

• in the search bar of your favourite search engine, you’ll find many options to choose from. A few decades ago, these names would have been of schools offering the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) or Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) curriculums. But today, you will find many International Baccalaureate (IB) schools in this list.

If you’re looking for IB schools, Mumbai, like other cities in India, is seeing an increasing number of schools offering this international curriculum. The IB offers 4 different programmes: the Primary Years Programme for ages 3 to 12, the Middle Years Programme for ages 11 to 16, and the Diploma and Career-related Programmes for ages 16 to 19. You can choose to enrol your child in one of these programmes or take the holistic approach of giving them a full IB education. If your child is already in secondary school, you can shift them to an IB school after Grade 10.

The IB Diploma Programme offers a strong foundation for the rigour of university and early career years, and is definitely a popular choice amongst parents in India as well as abroad. Let’s take a look at 3 of the mandatory aspects of the IB Diploma Programme that set it apart from other curriculums:

• Theory of Knowledge (TOK)

This component of the IBDP allows students to reflect on the nature of knowledge as well as on how we know what we claim to know. It is conducted in a structured manner as a thoughtful and purposeful inquiry, and forces students to reflect on their biases. Students are empowered to conduct thoughtful and purposeful inquiry into different types of knowledge and different ways of knowing. A trained teacher supervises discussions, wherein students gain greater awareness of their assumptions, and develop an appreciation for the richness of diverse cultural perspectives. Students are assessed on the basis of a 1600-word essay and an oral presentation, which test the student’s ability to apply TOK thinking to real-life situations and the student’s conceptual understanding respectively.

• Creativity, Action, Service (CAS)

Another mandatory component of the IBDP that aids in the overall development of students is CAS. The Creativity element requires a student to take up arts or any other extracurricular experience that involves creative thinking, the Activity element requires them to participate in any activity that involves physical exertion, and the Service element requires them to give back to society. All these together help a young student develop their character and personality, and help lay the ground for their balanced future. When looking at IB schools Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Pune and other cities in India boast of, do look at the activities they offer their students for CAS as this speaks volumes about the school. While CAS is not formally assessed, students need to complete 50 hours of each of the elements to gain their diploma. This component helps students cope better with the academic rigour of the programme.

• Extended Essay (EE)

The EE involves students picking a topic of interest and conducting research on it under the guidance of a supervisor, and presenting the same through a 4000-word paper, The EE helps students gain valuable research and communication skills that will help them immensely not only at university, but also during the course of their career. The EE is assessed by an external examiner appointed by the IB, and is marked on a scale from 0 to 34. This score translates to a grade, with A signifying work of an excellent standard and E signifying work of an elementary standard.

If you’re looking for the best IB school for your child, you can start your hunt by doing a quick search for ‘best school close to me’, followed by interactions with experts and other parents.

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