The level of investment in professional development is generally higher in IB schools. To be authorised to offer IB programmes, teachers need to attend appropriate professional development programmes, to go beyond basic levels of understanding and pedagogical approaches. With a simultaneous peer-to-peer model, we believe in the empowerment of teachers with pan-regional learning and sharing of best practices. This adds to the costs of affiliated schools.
However, one of the lesser-known facts about IBO is that half of IB world schools are state-funded. In Asia we are working with the government of Japan to introduce 200 schools to IB programmes while in Malaysia the government is funding 10 schools to implement the IB middle years programme (MYP). Moreover, there are a number of low fee schools in India which testify that implementing IB programmes does not need to come with high fees.
In IBO, we regard our standards rather than fees affiliated schools charge — over which we have no control — as elite. The IB’s attention to infrastructure is firmly tied to the ability to effectively deliver a programme in a safe environment and do not reach into aesthetic considerations or the need for air-conditioning throughout a school — Ian Chambers, Director, Asia Pacific, IBO