Is the price tag worth the education in an International Baccalaureate (IB)? and How is an IB education different from other boards?
An IB education in India may cost anywhere between seven to fourteen lakhs, with schools like Dhirubhai Ambani International School in Mumbai charging around twelve lakhs annually for their diploma program.
International Baccalaureate aims at inculcating intercultural understanding and respect among students while giving them an international standard of education through rigorous assessments.
The International Baccalaureate has three programs: Primary Years Program (PYP), Middle Years Program (MYP), and Diploma Program (IBDP), a two-year rigorous pre-university course, generally for grades 11 and 12 students. There are around hundred and fifty IB schools in India
offering one or more of the three IB programs.
There are a few reasons the IBDP program tends to be better than other similar programs.
The IBDP program is vastly recognized by leading universities around the globe, from the United States to Japan. IBDP tends to be the safest option for international students wishing to study abroad as the curriculum is planned to give high school students exposure to the rigor, work, and depth of knowledge they will encounter in universities.
As per research conducted by the Boarding Schools in Mumbai After two years of practice, IB students are better equipped with essential abilities such as writing reports and essays in university form, referencing sources, and conducting independent research. So when IBDP students arrive at college and their first assignment is a 4,000-word research paper with scholarly citations, this doesn’t come as a surprise since they have already done it in the IB Extended Essay (EE) component.
Additionally, the IBDP program makes students master at time management and independent study. The intense burden of the IB compels you to develop strong study habits and improve time management, which are crucial abilities for a university where students are responsible for
their learning.
Furthermore, IB students are not among the students who struggle to adjust to the significant increase in difficulty that occurs at the beginning of college. In addition to easing the transition, the fact that IB courses (especially those at the higher levels) are comparable to the material covered in the first year of college helps IBDP students perform better than their peers.
In the IB, unlike other curricula, students are not examined on their capacity to memorize facts and theories but rather on their ability to comprehend how facts are presented, and ideas are applied. This is done through the Internal Assessments (IAs) for every subject, where students
independently work on a report for months. Moreover, IB students have generally acquired the ability to think critically. That is, examining things from diverse angles and not letting preconceived notions and opinions cloud one’s judgment. Theory of Knowledge (TOK), the philosophy-based component of the course, teaches students to think creatively and build an
inquiring mind.
This widened perspective is essential for university, where students are exposed to numerous topics, viewpoints, and, of course, people.
In the IB, students develop both as a scholar and as a person.
Unsurprisingly, coming from a state recognized for its neutrality (Switzerland), one of the IBO’s goals for its IB programs is to build a more peaceful world by fostering the development of socially conscious people who would go on to make significant contributions long after
completing their formal education.
This is where the Creativity, Action, and Service (CAS) component of the IB comes in, which emphasizes students’ emotional and social development by engaging them in extracurricular activities. It encourages students to take a break from their studies and maintain a balanced approach, and it also allows them to develop softer skills such as empathy and teamwork. Other curricula are strictly intellectual and do not emphasize character development in this manner.
However, Several International Schools in Mumbai say that a coin has two sides, and the IBDP has its fair share of flaws and weaknesses as well:
The IB is a two-year commitment, which seems like an eternity when students are so young!
In addition, the IB is not an exam. Rather than a sprint, like most other courses, IB is a marathon. Successful IBDP students are distance learners. It demands two years of constant effort and great achievement. Exams are not spaced out, which means that at the conclusion of the final year, IB
students are on two years’ worth of content, and they need to have an equally solid grasp of the subject given at the beginning of the course in first as well as the end of the second year.
In the IB, in addition to the coursework and assignments for the six required topics, students must complete essays, presentations, and projects for the three core components: EE, TOK, and CAS. This makes the course considerably more challenging and content-heavy; thus, diligence and organization are more crucial than intelligence. Students must be able to effectively manage their time to fit in all the activities and maintain consistent grades despite the numerous exams. This is not always done without substantially reducing your sleep time or putting your sanity to the test.
Regardless, all top-tier colleges recognize the IB Diploma Program, which immediately places students on the global stage and contextualizes their application. No matter where students take their IB examinations, the results have the same meaning and are recognized by admissions authorities. Country-specific programs have different worldwide reach, making it more difficult for institutions to interpret students’ findings and accurately compare them to other applicants.