International Baccalaureate
versus "A" Levels
By David Ford. Education, DAWN, December 31, 2006.
In a speech on the status of education in Britain,
Prime Minister Tony Blair recently announced the establishment of 200 institutes
in England offering the International Baccalaureate as an alternative to the
A-Level system. Since any alternative to the O-and A-Level system is virtually
unknown in Pakistan, the Prime Minister’s announcement raises a few key
questions. Firstly, what is wrong with the A-Level system and why are
alternatives needed? And secondly, what is the International Baccalaureate, and
why is it being promoted so highly?
As stated on the International Baccalaureate Organisation’s website, the IBO is
“a recognised leader in the field of international education, encouraging
students to be active learners, well rounded individuals and engaged world
citizens.” The IBO is a non-government, non-profit organisation registered in
Switzerland, which is governed by an elected board of 17 volunteer members from
within the organisation or those concerned with international education. All
policies regarding the development and delivery of the Primary Years Programme,
Middle Years Programme and Diploma Programme are formulated by educationists
from around the world and are thus devoid of nationalistic bureaucracy and
politics.
It may be surprising to some that the International Baccalaureate (IB) system
has already been operating in Pakistan for the last 10 years. In a land
influenced by its British colonial past, where its people opt for either the
local Board examination or the more British GCE O-level/A-Level system, one
school in Karachi graduated the first 30 IB Diploma candidates from Pakistan in
May 2003, many of whom have gone on to prestigious colleges in the US, UK,
Canada, Australia and Pakistan despite parents’ continuing insecurities about
the still unfamiliar IB system of education. This lack of confidence can be
attributed to the fact that parents and local educators are reluctant to change
from the status quo to a ‘revolutionary’ education program based on the concepts
of skills based learning and criterion based assessment. Most are of the
misguided opinion that the concepts are idealistic and not practical. Many
parents continue to pressure the school management to switch the academic
program from the IB to the more nationally familiar GCE O-levels and A-levels.
There is good cause however, to shy away from the outdated and defunct O-level
examinations. Unfortunately, most people in Pakistan are unaware that the
General Certificate of Education (GCE) or “O-level” was replaced by the General
Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) across the UK in 1985.
Now, 20 plus years later, the number of countries still offering O-levels can be
counted on your fingers. These countries include select schools in Singapore,
Brunei, Mauritius, a few Anglophone African countries and, of course, Pakistan.
For the last two decades, secondary students in the UK have worked to attain
GCSEs and not O-levels. So the question remains, why was this change universally
implemented in the UK and not in Pakistan?
As compared to the specialised knowledge necessary for the externally-examined
GCE O-levels and GCSE, the IB’s age comparable Middle Years Programme (MYP) is a
broad curriculum structured on knowledge and skill development with criterion
based internal assessment and external moderation of teacher assessment. Instead
of individual selection of specific subjects, the MYP requires students to
select at least one subject under the following eight disciplines: Literature,
Second Language, Humanities (History or Geography), Sciences, Mathematics,
Physical Education, Technology and the Arts. In addition to studying at least
eight subjects, students need to complete a 4,000 word Personal Project and
satisfy the community service requirements of the programme. These requirements
lead to very well rounded, well-informed and community-minded students.
Moreover, as highlighted in Mr Blair’s speech, England’s well-regarded A-Level
qualification is also in trouble. As more and more universities are accepting
and encouraging students with a broad range of interests and skills, the
A-Levels produce students who have chosen specialisations at a very young age.
In addition, universities are complaining that the A-level qualification does
not allow them to select the best undergraduates because so many pupils are now
receiving top grades. Many elite universities have already been forced to
implement their own entrance aptitude tests to distinguish between the A-level
students.
In an effort to save the qualification, Mr. Blair stated that the A-level
examinations will be made more difficult, with questions encouraging critical
thought rather than rote learning, and an additional top grade of A* will be
added by 2010.
All of these problems have led to the Prime Minister’s announcement of the IB as
an added alternative to the A-Levels, with the IB provided in at least one
school in every district in England. He has declared that “the IB provides
students with breadth of study, requisite skill development, independence of
thought, maturity and self-confidence to become active learners across a broad
range of academic and life skills.”
The reason that the IB’s Diploma Programme is seen as a vibrant alternative to
the A-Levels is simply because the nature of the IB system already addresses the
concerns of the world’s major universities. The IB Diploma produces broadly
educated students with an eagerness to learn. Whereas an A-level student studies
three or four subjects, an IB Diploma candidate is required to study at least
one subject from six different disciplines over the course of two years:
Literature, Second Language, Individuals and Societies, Sciences, Mathematics,
and the Arts. They must also complete a 100 hour course in the Theory of
Knowledge, write a 4,000 word extended research paper and participate in a
minimum of 150 hours of community service. Additionally, the IB Diploma is
awarded on a point system, which allows universities to immediately ascertain a
student’s level of achievement.
Universities are also quick to accept IB students because the system contains
stringent internal quality control policies. International Baccalaureate
Organisation provides a yearly report on teacher assessment, an in depth audit
of the delivery of the programmes every three to five years, requires teachers
and administrators to attend IB authorised workshops, and monitors teachers
development through an Online Curriculum Center.
In contrast, the local authorities representing those boards which offer GCE
0-Levels and A-Levels have no policy or structures in place to ensure the
quality of the delivery of the programs after being authorised as a center.
For the above reasons and many others, the IB has grown extremely quickly since
its relatively recent inception in 1968. There are currently 1,901 IB World
Schools in 124 countries reaching more than 488,000 students in just 35 years.
These include 670 schools in the US, 222 in Canada, 90 in Australia, 89 in the
UK, 31 in India, 31 in China and one in Pakistan.
As the IB is offered in more countries than A-Levels, and is generally better
understood, especially in North America, it is becoming the programme of choice
for university admissions. “The IB is a first-rate programme,” says the Director
of Admissions at Princeton University, “we are familiar with it, and it prepares
students for a university like ours.” The Director of Admissions at M.I.T.
agrees, saying, “Send us prepared students a la IB… It is the best high school
prep curriculum a school can offer.”
Even in Britain, the home of the A-Levels, a survey of university admissions
officers found that 29 per cent thought A-Levels prepared students “quite badly”
for university. Only two per cent said that A-Level students were “very well”
prepared, whereas 29 per cent thought the IB Diploma did so.
Mr Blair’s endorsement of the IB system in Britain should serve as a wake up
call for people in Pakistan. Everyone should try to remain abreast of current
educational trends and not cling to outdated systems, like the O-Levels, that
are hardly used anywhere else in the world.
More forward thinking schools, like the one offering IB in Pakistan, should be
encouraged to investigate the possibility of implementing the International
Baccalaureate. Pakistan is in dire need of internationally, community-minded
students, with a broad, open-minded education. There is no reason that IB cannot
serve as an alternative option in Pakistan, just as it will in Britain.
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