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A rising popular alternative to the curriculums in India is the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP).
The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme or the IBDP is a global, worldwide education program consisting of a curriculum that helps the students widen their educational experiences and perspectives so they have the opportunity to apply the various skills they acquire throughout this course.
It is a rigorous two-year program where the student will be rewarded with a globally recognized diploma. One of the main reasons students undertake the IBDP is due to the increasing recognition of the curriculum over the past few years.
Additionally, the top international schools provide it. As parents would like to provide the best education to their children to pave a bright future ahead of them, they tend to opt for the IBDP.
However, there are many reasons as to why the IB only gained recognition in India recently.
Acceptance of the IB diploma program in Indian colleges
As the majority of the schools that provide IB have examinations that take place in the May session, most Indian universities close their applications by the time students receive their results.
While the IB does provide predicted grades, not all universities accept them. In fact, not all colleges accept the IB.
Even if it is accepted, the conversion of IB scores to Indian percentages is quite unclear.
Additionally, the majority of the schools accepting the IB are only located in Mumbai and Delhi. This may be a struggle for south Indian students especially as they may find it difficult to relocate and learn the language.
Therefore, the question of fairness comes into play here.
Entrance examinations
The timing of the examinations further continues to be troublesome as it may overlap with the dates when entrance exams take place. This automatically closes out multiple options for the students, thus narrowing down their opportunities.
While students from the other boards are much more prepared for competitive entrance tests like JEE or NEET, being an IB student makes it much more difficult to study for the entrance tests simultaneously.
The international baccalaureate diploma programme doesn’t just revolve around academics. It is much more than that. In order to receive the diploma, students must also satisfy the core component requirements. One of these components is known as CAS (Creativity, activity and service).
Alongside their academics, students take part in various other extra-curricular activities of three strands.IB students also engage in various other extracurricular activities, thus allowing no time left to allocate for anything else.
This might be quite inconvenient and stressful for the student.
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Difference in curriculums
While most boards in India are more academically focused, the IB provides much more than that. The IB diploma program can be a better curriculum than the others because any school with this programme, provides the students a combination of challenging, diverse and a unique way of education.
Additionally, there are profiles and principles that IB students learn and understand throughout the course.
This not only helps the student themselves, but also makes the students aware of what happens around them. IB learners are encouraged to find creative solutions and critically think through the problems laid ahead. In doing so, they also educate themselves and push themselves to learn more.
While facing such challenges, they also tend to become culturally aware of their roots and society by learning it through a second language. This would then allow students to globally connect as well as engage with people from all around the world.
However, on another note, in doing the IB programme, students are driven to reach to their maximum potential that makes them do and try new things which would additionally be beneficial while applying to high-ranking universities.
Therefore, pursuing the IB would be highly beneficial if you were to apply abroad rather than to continue in India.
Altogether, studying the IB curriculum stands out because of how it challenges students to excel both in their studies as well as their personal growth. The IBDP program covers the student experiences and skill learning at all bases including being the jack of all trades and more importantly, being balanced between studying and everything else.
It focuses on practical and application-based learning which means that they are assessed based on their inquisitive knowledge and intelligence and not their memory power and speed. The level of personal growth that IB students achieve is one of the major reasons for choosing this programme.
IB not only helps you grow academically by making students more knowledgeable, it also helps students grow as people. Reflecting on daily tasks, balancing multiple things at once, caring, open-mindedness, increased and effective communication— these are skills that students can carry forward in life.
The mandatory component, CAS, enables students to work in their community. This may involve campaigning, fundraising and other volunteering activities. This brings about a sense of responsibility as students feel like they are part of something bigger.
However, the IB diploma program is not tailored to meet Indian requirements, whether it be applying to colleges or preparing for entrance exams.
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