Many parents have had doubts about the IB programme; about what it is and about what it has to offer. This is often because there isn’t much awareness created about the IB programme since a fairly new thing which is gaining some attention recently.
This has become famous to the extend where there are many IB home tuition services have opened and there are many IB tutors available to teach students who seek help. The International Baccalaureate offers international education through four challenging, high quality educational programmes to students aged 3 to 19.
Source: https://www.ibo.org/programmes/ |
The programmes are,
- Primary Years programme
- Middle Years programme
- Diploma Programme
- Career-related programme
These are designed and aimed at personal development and enabling students to achieve academic excellence. IB programme also enables holistic development as it ensures that students practice good values in their life as success is not just about academic achievements and landing a career that pays well; it’s about gaining knowledge in a rightful way and putting it to good use for the benefit of others.
#1: Extra-curricular Activities
Some amount of healthy exposure to activities and events beyond the books is of utmost importance for children. Undoubtedly, IB programme’s extra-curricular activities prepare students for university life and beyond and this is essential for any individual as being book-smart is not sufficient to conquer the harsh realities of the “real world”.
The “creativity, activity, and service (CAS) experiences” is a compulsory experiential learning component which requires students to complete a range of extra-curricular activities, community service and athletic activities all of which definitely widens students’ horizons and gives them the opportunity to explore themselves on different levels.
#2: Depth Of Learning
The depth of learning is much different from that of A-levels as the programme requires students to choose subjects from six different subject groups, namely,
- Studies in language and literature
- Language acquisition
- Individuals and societies
- Sciences
- Mathematics
- The arts
This wider scope enables students to explore subjects in different ways and to also undergo a self-analysis to ask themselves which area actually grabs their attention and keep them interested. As the depth of learning is greater, it undoubtedly requires students to be much more competent and they need to be a little more disciplined to keep up with the rigour.
#3: IB Tuition
IB home tuition in Singapore is slowly gaining some attention at a similar pace at which IB programme has gained its spotlight from the time it was introduced. Now, with more children opting for IB programme and with more parents willing to explore this option, IB tuition is being explored much more now as compared to how it was a decade or so ago.
One of the important reasons why parents should not hesitate in putting children through IB programme is because IB tutors are available to come the rescue at any critical point in time. There is lots of scope for students who excel in IB programme and hence parents should not have second thoughts about putting their child through IB should their concern be purely about their child’s potential to cope with the rigour of the programme.
With the right amount of help and diligence on the student’s part, it’s possible to excel!
#4: Independant Thinking
Independent thinking is important as it is absolutely useless if everything is being spoon-fed for students. If all the information and answers are being taught at one stretch, there is no point int students attending classes or even attending examinations. A good education system has to guide students in a systemic manner and students should develop themselves based on the exposure they get at school.
#5: Time Management
Students undoubtedly struggle with time management, especially when they move on to higher levels of education as they will be loaded with much more commitments and extracurricular activates.
IB programme is much more rigorous in nature as compared to other systems and this means students are expected to be disciplined with their schedule and be able to achieve the competency of allocating the right amount of time to complete homework, assignments, project works and so on.
#6: Future Prospects
IB is well-recognised internationally and that is beyond a shadow of a doubt. IB Diploma graduates have a better chance of enrolling in prestigious universities due to the amount of recognition and reach that it has around the world. As much as it sounds hunky dory, it is as rigorous and demands a lot from students and really pushes the boundaries to test for a student’s level of perseverance and competency.
#7: Research
The purpose of learning is not just to read the same things over and over again; it’s about gaining knowledge, applying it elsewhere and finding out ways to discover and invent something new that will be useful for the society.
Many texts, scriptures, theorems and concepts of the past are still yet to be taken seriously to be either proven as fact or fiction and the only way to do so is through research. This means students need to be equipped with research skills which are not as easy to be gained; it does not happen overnight and students need proper guidance in order to handle a research work skilfully.
This exposure will be given to students enrolled in IB programme; and this is undoubtedly one of the biggest advantages.
#8: It Will Be Challenging
A lotus, though known for its beauty, grows from the depths of mud and it’s unmarked by the dirt around it. Likewise, every child wants to succeeds have to survive through the most mentally and physically taxing and exhausting experience.
The hurdles and painful experiences shape the intellect and maturity of a child which enables him or her to take many things with a pinch of salt and only devote their attention towards things that matters and requires proper attention.
In Conclusion, it is absolutely essential for students to put themselves through challenges to emerge as a better version of themselves, and what better way would there be than to opt for the IB programme!