Hundreds of diplomats and their families have come and gone from Geneva in Switzerland since 1968, when the International Baccalaurate (IB) diploma programme was initiated at the city’s International School to create a standardised curriculum for students preparing for university study. Forty years on, the IB programme has become the global gold standard for secondary education and its graduates have become diplomats for an approach to education that emphasises interdisciplinary thinking, active learning and the development of cross-cultural understandings. The programme has been so succesful that students who complete it in 2,425 schools in 131 countries are often afforded second-year standing at some of the world’s finest universities.
As we report today, there are 11 schools in the UAE that offer the International Baccalaurate diploma and the programme’s administrators see the Middle East as a major growth area in the next decade. As yet, it is an unrealistic goal to have a substantial percentage of secondary school students in the UAE complete its rigorous course of study. But as our nation revamps and standardises its approach to education, we should take note of what has made this programme so successful.
While the memorisation of names and dates and a mastery of scientific skill sets are required for an IB diploma, there are two more essential principles that inform the programme’s philosophy. Whatever courses students choose in the IB programme’s required areas of study – languages, experimental and social sciences, maths, and arts – they must learn how to learn in different contexts, and how to ask challenging questions.
It is true that jobs in the ever-changing global economy put a premium on these skills. But education should not be directed entirely towards developing a student’s professional prospects. If students properly develop flexibility in their understanding, and a healthy scepticism, they might also come to see the interconnections between all human experience and knowledge. Names, dates and test scores are important, but should not be the ultimate objective. We should undoubtedly imitate the IB programme’s emphasis on academic rigour. But more importantly, we should encourage all students to develop a life-long passion for learning: the joys and benefits of which no test or diploma can possibly measure.
Page last updated 01 January 2020