WHY SHOULD YOU CHOOSE IB SCHOOLS FOR YOUR CHILD?

What Is IB Board?

The International Baccalaureate (IB) is a non-profit foundation. It was formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. IB was founded in 1968. Every school that is authorized to offer IB Program is recognized as an IB World School. 

IB offers four educational programs for students aged 3 to 19:

1. The IB Diploma Program
2. The IB Career-related Program
3. The IB Middle Years Program
4. The IB Primary Years Program

The four programs together provide a critically engaging, personally uplifting, intellectually stimulating and inspiring continuum of education. The International Baccalaureate is a legal entity, a foundation under the Swiss Law which is constituted for a special stated objective. It is a non-profit organization, selling its services and products to schools in a system parallel to the franchise network, wherein the schools buy services and products from the IB like- publications, right to use branding, assessments etc and in turn schools act as distributors by reselling the services and products to families. The financial surplus of IB has increased nine-fold in just eight years. 

Almost half of all the revenues comes from grading. The organization is divided into three regional centers:

1. IB Africa, Europe and Middle East (IBAEM), administered from The Hague
2. IB Americas (IBA), administered from Bethesda
3. IB Asia-Pacific (IBAP), administered from Singapore

There are currently 56 sub-regional associations. The IB works with both non-governmental and governmental organizations all across the globe and has consultative status as a non-governmental organization at UNESCO and has collaborative relationships with OIF and Council of Europe. 

IB Schools in Japan

Almost 89 of IB World Schools currently offer one or more of the four IB programs. The IB board encourages inquiry based learning and is child centric. The children studying this curriculum learn to take ownership and are more independent. IB curriculum is designed in a balanced way providing equal focus on art, music, dance, business administration and other extracurricular activities. Children have the choice to pick out subjects which are pre-divided in groups, based on their preferences and interests. The board promotes concept based learning in contrast to the typical textbook based rote learning. There are no such prescribed textbooks, children are expected to understand what’s being taught in class and are provided with access to resources that they may pick from to learn the concepts in-depth. Since the children earn credits in school itself, it helps them advance without having the need to go through basic courses again in college. The IB schools in Tokyo are recognized all across the globe and are extremely beneficial for students aiming to study in foreign countries. Students at IB World Schools are given a challenging, diverse and unique education. 

IB learners are encourage to:

-Solve complex problems and think critically 

-Drive their own learning

-Through development of a second language, become more culturally aware

-Engage with people in a rapidly changing and increasingly globalized world

Majority of the IB students develop strong social, emotional and academic characteristics and are more likely to perform better academically as compared to other curricula students. 

The IB views teachers as essential to the success of schools and as a part of the professional learning community, thereby providing them with access to:

-Certification and degree programs that are offered by highly respected universities from all across the globe.

-High quality of professional development encouraging self reflection, critical thinking and dedication to continuous improvement along with lifelong learning. 

-Diverse and extremely innovative education frameworks, teaching resources, evaluation tools, unit planners etc.

IB provides significant benefits to the schools that choose this board including:

-Being a part of a worldwide network for greatly respected IB World Schools 

-Getting access to superior quality programs of education which support the development of inquiring and knowledgeable students.

-Professional development supporting collaborative professional learning and effective educators.

-High performing students

What sets apart the IB Schools?

The IB programs aim to do much more as compared with other curricula. IB provides a distinctive upper hand by nurturing the student’s curiosity, critical thinking skills and ability to solve complex problems. The board strives to develop students that will build a much better world through respect, intercultural understanding along with a healthy appetite for excellence and lifelong learning. The IB Boards boasts of developing curricula independently of government and national systems, incorporating quality practice from research. It aims at developing multilingual students that can challenge assumptions, are caring, inquisitive, successful and knowledgeable.