Growing Demand for International Schools
The demand for international schooling is steadily growing in India. The IBDP (International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme) and the IGCSE (International General Certificate of Secondary Education, UK are the two most sought after.
The IB diplomas and certificates and the Cambridge certificates are recognized globally.
The Cambridge program is focused on the development of critical thinking, analytical mind, and research traits. It is a content-rich program that prepares students for further study wherever they are interested in going.
The IB Diploma program is also focused on the development of critical thinking, analysis, digital competencies, psycho-social skills, etc.,
In both instances, the extra-curricular activities and other learning or sport, and creative arts that the students want to pursue are provided by the Schools depending on their own capabilities and as per demands. The annual fee charged also varies from school to school and city to city in tune with the facilities, expertise of teachers, and offerings.
The IBDP in India is turning out to be the preferred choice of those who want to pursue higher studies in the US. It is designed to provide students with the best possible preparation for Universities and Colleges in the US. However, in recent years the choices are widening to Australia, Canada, and the UK too as the Indian diaspora is getting distributed.
Both these streams of education are also better attuned to schooling youth to rise up to the demands of the emerging, technology-driven, industrial and corporate jobs across the globe. Their teaching methodologies focus on encouraging students towards questioning, analysis, project execution, and learning rather than exam driven. Therefore, students will be better equipped with abilities to meet the skills, jobs, and challenges of the technology-driven world of the future, feel experts in education spoken to.
The opening up of the Indian economy in the 1990s, increases in the presence of multinational companies, back and forth movement of non-resident Indians, global outlook of certain sections of people, and finally, easy access to educational loans from banks and financial institutions have all contributed to the growth in these international curriculum-based school.
At the moment most of these schools are concentrated in Delhi and NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Pune. More and more cities are getting added too. There are over 200 authorized IBDP schools in India now, with the maximum in Mumbai followed by the National Capital Region (NCR).
If one looks at the global spread of the IB schools, there are over 5000 in the US, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Gulf region. All these schools share the same mission – to improve the quality of education, international mindedness, and a holistic approach to teaching and learning.