World Class

8216;8216;The IB system of learning is different. The shift is from information based learning to process based learning. It will also help our students compete in an increasingly global environment,8217;8217; says Om Pathak, chairman of the Dehra Dun based SelaQui School that just got its IB authorisation.

Next April, the school will give a choice to students joining Class XI: either choose this diploma or go along with the existing ISC board. Initially, it8217;ll let only 15 students join this programme but its aim is to finally take the number up to 40.

So what exactly is this programme that8217;s getting both educationists and students excited?

8216;8216;The IB diploma programme is equivalent to class XI and XII under the local board and is recognised by the Indian Universities, New Delhi. So the student doesn8217;t have to follow any other board,8217;8217; says Farzana Dohadwalla, regional representative for South Asia, International Baccalaureate Organisation IBO.

Like in other boards, here too a student gets to choose a stream8212;arts, science or commerce8212;but has to take three non-academic courses too: theory of knowledge questioning and forming an opinion, creativity, action and service Arts and Social Service and an extended essay which is basically a 5000 word mini-thesis.

Getting an IB certification is not easy though. The SelaQui School applied for it in 2001, the year the school itself was founded. Preparation for it was long and expensive. It meant sending teachers for training at the IB workshops, wherever they were held. 8216;8216;My teachers have attended workshops in Singapore and Sydney and will now be attending one in Bangkok.8217;8217;

It took the Ecole Mondial World School in Mumbai a year to get the authorisation. 8216;8216;There were a number of progressive visits by the IBO officials showing them that the school had the necessary pre-requisites8212;a library with books of highest international standards, a science laboratory, a computer laboratory as well as the teachers trained under the IB methodology,8217;8217; says principal Ken Barman.

But the long wait seems to be worth it. Students, especially those applying abroad, say the new system gives them a head start. Seventeen-year-old Rishabh Ruia completed his class X from Hiranandani School, Powai, and switched over to the IB programme at Ecole Mondiale.

8216;8216;As compared to the local Board, the IB programme is recognised worldwide which makes it simpler for me to go abroad after I complete the diploma,8217;8217; says Ruia.

A month into the course and Ruia is enjoying the experience. 8216;8216;I don8217;t feel like I am doing much work because everything is application-oriented. And thankfully, the textbook is not the Bible.8217;8217;

8216;8216;Contrary to what most think, the ultimate destination is not a foreign university,8217;8217; clarifies Dohadwalla. 8216;8216;In fact many students want to continue their higher studies in India. But these students do have an edge over those passed through the local boards.8217;8217;

But Dohadwalla acknowledges that the course is still to shed its elitist tag. 8216;8216;We could perhaps have the programme in two different languages8212;one for North India and the other for south. Like in China they are soon going to introduce the programme in Chinese.8217;8217;

Meanwhile, students at the Ecole Mondiale are still getting used to the new system. 8216;8216;In other boards, students don8217;t really have the room to question the teacher or voice opinions,8217;8217; says Jarman. New found freedom in the class will take a while getting used to.

With Devyani Onial in Delhi