1 International Baccalaureate Schools in India
1.1 Introduction
In 2014, a report by British Council on contribution of private education sector in India brought to light the immense complexity that the private schools face to maintain cultural heritage and growth on global platform (British Council, 2014). This report concentrating on K-12 education imparted by private schools observed the need for young Indians to grow at par with the rest of the world while preserving their cultural legacy, which the public education sector find hard to accomplish in terms of quality and pace (British Council, 2014). FICCI-Ernst & Young Report (2015) observed private schools contributing to 40% of the enrolment in primary educational level in the country while representing 25% of the total 1.25 million schools nationwide (FICCI-Ernst & Young, 2015). Realizing the significance of quality education, Indian Government included the expansion of education sector in its 12th 5-Year Plan (2012-2017), due to which various new curriculums were seen added in the already existing variety of courses after 2012 (British Council, 2014).
India has been supporting various educational boards which have their individual patterns and course structures. The variation was initially acknowledged to offer ample fit to the culturally diverse nations within the country that had different needs and emphasis for next generations to know (FICCI-Ernst & Young, 2015). The individual state-boards take care of this variation in structures and are controlled by State Governments. The National Boards with rather uniform pattern across the country comprise of CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education), CISCE (Council of Indian School Certificate Examinations) and NIOS (National Institute of Open Schooling) comprise the other category conducting exams by providing affiliation to various schools which follow the respective course structures prescribed through these boards (Pushpanadham, 2014). Besides State-Government Boards and National Boards, India has witnessed international boards of education spanning rapidly to support its existence as a globalized nation, of which IB (International Baccalaureate) and CIE (Cambridge International Examinations) are common (FICCI-Ernst & Young, 2015).
1.2 International Baccalaureate (IB) Schools
1.2.1 Concept, Policies and Infrastructure Requirements
IB education programmes are very recent phenomena in the Indian schooling which have gained relevance after globalization (Pushpanadham, 2014). Rapidly changing scenarios with Indians travelling beyond geographical boundaries often have brought the need to adorn the international education system which can prepare the future generations to understand the needs and expectations of the rest of the world (British Council, 2014). IBO (International Baccalaureate Organization) founded in 1968 in Geneva, Switzerland, is the international controlling authority which works with the purpose of imparting the international education that can turn an individual into a global inquirer (International Baccalaureate Organization, 2016). IBO as the non-profit Organization committed to prepare the citizens of a rapidly globalizing world aims at nurturing the emotional, intellectual, social and personal skills through four of its highly distinguished programmes: (i) IB Primary Years Programme (PYP), (ii) IB Middle Years Programme (MYP), (iii) IB Diploma Programme (IBDP) and (iv) IB Career related Programme (International Baccalaureate Organization, 2016).
While the idea of developing global citizens is highly prospective and intriguing for parents and at the same time immensely lucrative for the existing schools to apply for candidacy from IBO, there are two important policies that the schools must develop and implement in order to be considered for recognition by IBO (University FAQs about the IB | International Baccalaureate®, 2016):
• Language Policy: At the root of IB course structure is multicultural aspect which strives on developing multi-linguists. The emphasis is on learning and cultivating the language skills in multiple foreign languages which can allow the IB school students to accommodate easily among foreign cultural contexts. The IB Language Policy dictates the manner in which linguistic support is provided to schools and teachers to implement IB programmes easily (IBO | Language policy, 2016). There are altogether 5 levels of linguistic support including 2 for working languages and 3 for access languages. Working languages support internal organization and administration for routine activities while the access languages support necessary understanding and documentation especially for teachers to implement the teaching (IBO | Language policy, 2016).
• Assessment Policy: To provide a knowledgeable fit for students with varying learning styles, IB has its assessment policy which is divided into multiple routes through which students can demonstrate their knowledge. IBO provides support to schools and teachers to know what these mechanisms are and how the assessment rubrics works (IB Assessment Policy, 2016). Assessment is carried out by IB school teachers internally and by the IBO appointed assessors externally, for which IB schools must have necessary moderation techniques. Moderation is done outside the school for the reasons for reliability and equity and the IB school teachers are required to develop and implement knowledge on assessment as the part of IB assessment network (IB Assessment Policy, 2016).
The infrastructure needs of an IB school varies between its programmes concerning spatial arrangements, maximum class strength in each class, availability of laboratories, libraries, total building area, amenities like playground, kitchen, drinking water, playing equipments, different aids for learning and teaching and the hostel facilities (IBO | Becoming an IB School, 2016). There is no fixed number on the infrastructural resourcing needs but the assessment is carried out by IBO on infrastructural facilities to assess candidacy of a school for its IB programme (Pushpanadham, 2014).
1.2.2 Scope and Market
The infrastructure specialties, contemporary amenities addressing the needs and expectations with universal approach, physical resources and teachers equipped with understanding on global issues and trained with diverse teaching patterns make IB schools invest higher on preliminary arrangements for all of its course programmes in comparison with other State and National Boards. This in turn limits the scope of these schools in the country like India where parents have choices for their children to choose from the schools with lesser fee structure and yet established reputation. As of 2015 for instance, 96 IB schools in India are all opened in either Metropolitan cities or Tier-1 cities where majority of the population residing is millennial generation (FICCI-Ernst & Young, 2015). The scope of IB schools is directly linked with affordability in education that the parents/ guardians of admitting children exhibit in their lifestyles. Delhi for example is the metropolitan city represented by a reasonable proportion of residents (35%-55%) which has income close to 40-60 times the national average (Andrews, 2012). This segment of people believes in flashy lifestyle which can conform to its reputation of the capital of a growth-oriented nation. The city therefore has about 34 IB schools in total in and around New Delhi with over 4700 students (International Baccalaureate Programme, 2016). On the other hand, Chennai is the metropolitan city which is slow in adapting to the millennial generation lifestyle. In-spite of abundance of Information Technology firms and Production centres in the city, the residents are resistant to the lifestyle changes. This is reflected in the education system as well where there are only 3 IB schools in the city with total enrolment of just over 400 students (Pushpanadham, 2014).
In terms of market therefore IB schools has the current as well as futuristic market in the form of Tier-1 and metropolitan cities across India. The influential factors deciding on the market performance are general household affordability, extent of urbanization in the city, lifestyles of people, attitude of people towards the existing education system in their respective cities, accommodative ability of the city towards foreign cultures, inclination on opportunities outside India and above all the quality of education imparted by schools. With the rapidly developing country scenario and shift in inclination of the parents from academic to holistic development of their children, IB schools have immense opportunities in near future across Tier-1 cities and Metros.
2 National and International Schools: Similarities and Differences
2.1 Similarities
The constant overhauling of national boards in an attempt to upgrade and improve the quality of education has brought them close to IBO in terms of their objectives (Pushpanadham, 2014). For example, CBSE board, the board with maximum number of schools affiliated across the country, conducts invigilation across its schools once in a year. The course structure is revised every few years to stay updated with the aspects of knowledge necessary for current generation of students. The similar insistence on imparting the updated and relevant knowledge through their course books has been the strength of ICSE Board as well. The Board sets up expectations for students to be aware of current happenings based on which the course structure is updated frequently. The major emphasis remains on fundamentals and the basics are repeated while maintaining synchronism among different subjects (British Council, 2015).
Another similarity between some of the National and IB schools is their approach to developing the children by identifying individual strengths. Though this is true with few schools where the fee structure is usually higher than the other schools, mechanisms to impart education are vivid and the children are graded rather than marked in an attempt to discourage comparison (Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations, 2011). Majority of National schools like IB schools have their individual methods of testing teachers’ knowledge, in addition to which National Boards’ authoritative bodies’ have regular trainings and minimum qualifying standards for instructors.
2.2 Differences
The first and foremost difference between national and IB schools is in the fee structure. IB schools in India charge the fee that ranges between 1.5 to 5 times in comparison with a school affiliated to CBSE or ICSE Board. In comparison with private schools following respective State-Board affiliations, this ratio lies between 2.5 to 11 times depending upon the board chosen. The massive amount of fees is justified by IB school administration is due to the cost of expenses incurred in providing the ambience and resources to the children to ensure their overall development (Pushpanadham, 2014). Since learning style of each kid is different, the IB schools find fees as the only financial means of offering the varying needed resources to the students (International Baccalaureate Programme, 2016). The difference thus lies in the resource offering as well where the national boards work on an established pattern of imparting education while IB schools look on to vivid means for teaching individuals.
The second major difference is between the educational approach adopted by national boards and IBO. National Boards rely on theoretical knowledge majorly, though the recent trend has seen the mix of practical and theoretical sessions within classrooms of majority of reputed schools in the major cities. While the teachers have their individual ways of assessing the child within classroom and encourage different aspects of learning like oratory, presentation or teamwork, there is no set pattern as prescribed by the board (Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations, 2011). On the other hand the teachers in IB schools are trained to assess the multiple aspects of learning which they are expected to monitor mandatorily through classroom exercises.
The third difference is in the focus of course content. While the national schools cover the general information concerning national issues, growth and heritage, IB schools concentrate on global issues and attempt to find the resolve to these issues through developing minds by sheer reasoning (International Baccalaureate Programme, 2016). As the subject is contemporarily relevant and the approach compels young children to think, reason and develop an understanding all on their own, there is better level of independence in thinking achieved. Also the focus on global issues help students connect to the world outside India, which is usually not the case in national boards.
3 Policy Re-contextualization and Recognition of IB Programmes
IBO works on universal curriculum design on an Organizational level which is adopted by the various schools all over the world which seek affiliation to IBO. There are definitive language and assessment policies that are common across the IB World Schools (the schools which have received approval from IB and implemented the IB course). However since the insistence is on overall personality development of the children in a particular context, most of the academics related policies are required to be re-contextualized to offer the best fit to the context (University FAQs about the IB | International Baccalaureate®, 2016). For example in Indian context, the schools face challenge in recruiting multilingual teachers. The governance of IBO is therefore required to co-ordinate on the reasonable teacher-to-student ratio in the light of context in which the school operates. This applies to all facets of administration processes. To deal with this, there are 3 levels of governances within IBO: (i) the heading committee which is based at Geneva, (ii) Region-wise governance for setting direction on course design and (iii) Country-wise governance for re-contextualization of policies to offer maximum advantage from the course by including the local contexts relevant for learning process (University FAQs about the IB | International Baccalaureate®, 2016).
For the PYP and MYP courses, this happens to be the straight forward mechanism to govern the change in existing policies. However the DP courses need to undergo different contexts as the different universities in different countries have varying requirements of their own. This makes the policy acceptance from IBO a process which seldom requires ‘legalization’ (University FAQs about the IB | International Baccalaureate®, 2016). In India, it is an extensive process in which the co-ordinator of DY programmes in the country must have the document as well as results of the assessment endorsed by Geneva based heading committee. This endorsement provides authentication to the DY programme course and its result which is then to be accepted by Indian Universities in which students seek admission. In spite of legalization, there is still no policy in place which can make the DP courses recognized by ‘all’ the universities. It thus depends upon the University’s individual discretion to accept the Diploma Course as the process of achieving the required learning milestones or reject it altogether (University FAQs about the IB | International Baccalaureate®, 2016). There is currently no guideline on how the existing universities in India deal with IB DY courses and to what extent these courses are successful in getting admission in Indian Universities. However there is evidence that 86% of the students completing DY programmes and applying for admission in foreign Universities succeed in taking up tertiary level courses abroad (International Baccalaureate Programme, 2016).
3.1 Implementation Challenges
Since IB schools in India are gradually gaining relevance, there are certain challenges that these schools have been facing in terms of their objective of imparting the high-quality education at par with global standards as established by IBO. Some of the challenges in implementation are discussed as follows:
3.1.1 Justifying high fee structure
The high cost of setting up an IB school with the minimum resourcing requirements in terms of infrastructure as well as other physical amenities compels the IB schools to charge the considerable amount of fees; however this cost which ranges between 1.5 times to 11 times the fees charged by other national board affiliated schools appears unreasonable to majority of parents (Pushpanadham, 2014). The objective of IB schools to bring about the holistic development approach can be argued due to the recent overhauling of CBSE and ICSE boards which have been updating themselves fast to improve on quality while making sure that the students are lesser pressurized with each passing year. This magnifies the problem for IB schools further as the market competition for these schools is with the national boards which have decades of establishment history.
3.1.2 Scarcity of teachers
To develop a student with multilingual skills, out-of-the-box approach to solving problems and exceptional command on English language, the teachers appointed must own the calibre of imparting the same (International Baccalaureate Programme, 2016). Clearly the minimum standard requirements for an individual to become a teacher at an IB school far outweigh the requirements in the other schools. Though the efforts of these teachers are compensated by the decent pay scale decided by country level governance of IBO, the IB schools have been facing the challenge of teacher-scarcity (Pushpanadham, 2014). The issue of employing the ‘great’ teachers with the needed attributes gets intensified in the current scenario of Indian education sector where the limited pool of human resources are competed for by the several established national and international boards with financial standing and better pay structures.
3.1.3 Lacking recognition by Indian Universities
The DY Programmes from IBO are not recognized by all the universities worldwide, and as per the official statement on IBO’s website, the students are accountable for their application in the respective universities to make sure if there is a recognition for the IBDY programme (University FAQs about the IB | International Baccalaureate®, 2016). There is therefore no channelized process within Indian education sector which can ensure that completing the 2-years DY course in an IB school would get the student admission to an Indian University of choice. This further limits the number of students enrolling for IB programmes. The high cost of programme and the lacking recognition by national and international universities diverts the students to spend considerable time and money into taking up other globally recognized entrance exams courses for careers abroad. Alternatively they take up specially designed courses to crack entrance exams to most prestigious Indian Universities (Pushpanadham, 2014). IBDY programmes therefore decline in their priority for the students after secondary level of education.
4 Conclusion
IB schools since after their inception in 1968 in Geneva have rapidly gained recognition worldwide due to their approach towards imparting relevant and holistic education. The universal policies of IBO also confine the affiliation to few limited schools of extremely high standards in each geographical region which reflects on maintenance of immensely high quality in learning. This appealing approach of IB schools however faces numerous challenges in Indian education sector where established private schools of high statute with the help of national boards working hard on improving themselves poses a tough competition to IB schools. Although the insistence of IB schools is quality education disregarding the number of students enrolling for its programmes, the cost of setting up schools compels the school authorities to rely on reasonable number of admissions to cope up with financial pressures. The lacking recognition of Diploma Programmes by Indian Universities is another major issue that IB schools face in the country. Altogether the learning oriented programmes of IB schools which concentrate on bringing the overall development in emotional, social, personal and intellectual aspects of an individual provide an appropriate fit for the students to be the part of rapidly globalizing world by knowing it from an early age.