International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) Mission Statement:

Through comprehensive and balanced curricula coupled with challenging assessments, the International Baccalaureate Organization aims to assist schools in their endeavors to develop the individual talents of young people and teach them to relate the experience of the classroom to the realities of the world outside. Beyond intellectual rigor and high academic standards, strong emphasis is placed on the ideals of international understanding and responsible citizenship, to the end that IB students may become critical and compassionate thinkers, lifelong learners and informed participants in local and world affairs, conscious of the shared humanity that binds all people while respecting the variety of cultures and attitudes that makes for the richness of life

IBO and KIS

KIS has a distinguished academic history with the International Baccalaureate Organization.

The IBO was founded in 1968 and today works with 2715 schools in 138 countries with more than 745,000 students aged 3 - 19. The first IBO Diploma Program started in 1968 with first exams in 1970, six years before KIS became the first IB school and the first international school in India when it adopted the IB Diploma Program in 1976.

With IBO membership and school authorization dating from 1980, KIS is the third oldest IB school in Asia and in the first 20 IBO authorized schools in the world. KIS involvement with the IBO extends from representation on the IBO Governing Council and regional committees, hosting IB conferences and designing school based pilot programs to a constant stream of qualified IB examiners on KIS staff.

KIS has a 30+ year track record of internationally benchmarked IB results. Since 1980 KIS has had a 90% average IB Diploma success rate. This compares with a 75-80% average world-wide success rate. [School code: 0067]

At KIS the IB Diploma is optional and is run in addition to the US accredited KIS High School Diploma. Between 30% and 50% of KIS graduates earn the full IB Diploma each year. KIS Class of 2009 diploma students achieved a 99% success rate. In addition, approximately 60% of students in grades 11 and 12 appear for IB Diploma examinations in more than 30 subjects, consistently scoring above the worldwide average.

KIS is now authorized to offer the IBO Middle Years Program to grades 6-10.

Over Thirty Years with the IB

For over thirty years, Kodaikanal International School in South India has offered the IB Diploma Program as an option to its students – the first school in India and second school in Asia to join the IB. In l975 the first students began preparation for SL exams, with Higher Level courses added the following year. The first IB Diplomas at KIS were awarded to 6 students in l980. Originally, only a small number of students did the full diploma, until they realized that it was not just for the top academic students. A breakthrough came in 1985 when the first KIS student earned a 40+ point diploma. In 1996 the School had 40 full diploma candidates. Usually, about 30-32 students chose to be full diploma candidates which rose to 56 in 2006. In July 2005 Kodaikanal International School expanded the IB program by adding the Middle Years Program (MYP).

Kodaikanal International School began as Highclerc School (later Kodaikanal International School) in 1901 for the purpose of educating the children of North American missionaries working in South and Southwest Asia. For 70 years, children supported by Christian mission organizations attended this boarding school in Kodaikanal in the Palani Hills of Tamil Nadu, South India. The curriculum was American based and aimed at preparing students for US college entry. In addition to core subjects, there was an extensive emphasis on physical education, music, the arts and religious studies and a more limited focus on Indian studies and languages.

By 1970 new voices were being raised within the school community and on the governing council. These voices were analyzing the purpose of the school and expressing a broader vision for the future. Kodaikanal International School long range vision document, Project Design, was adopted in l974 and ". . . envisaged . . . as an institution where students and staff of various nationalities and backgrounds can live together and study together learning from one another in a Christian atmosphere, while retaining their own individuality, culture, and self-respect."

A quality academic program was a priority in this new school plan. Kodaikanal International School wanted a curricular program that had value as an end in itself, but which met international standards, preparing students to enter university in many countries, including India, and which encouraged experimentation in new and bold curriculum designs and innovative methodology. Considerable research and discussion ensued, resulting in adoption of a cohesive curriculum plan which would:

• Encompass grades 1-12 and led to a US accredited High School Diploma
• Include courses necessary to prepare students for direct admission to Indian universities
• Include courses necessary to prepare students for the new International Baccalaureate Diploma

Choosing the IB Diploma Program was the result of the work of members of the Curriculum Committee, a working sub-committee of the Steering Committee responsible for expediting the Council decision that Kodaikanal International School becomes India's first international school.

Council representative, Dalton Noack, visited the International School Geneva (ISG) an earlier IB school to investigate. He found that only 76 of the 601 candidates across the world were taking the full Diploma Program and examinations; that it was possible to choose between certificate exams in selected subjects or the full Diploma Program. This flexibility in the IB program appealed to the Curriculum Committee members because it allowed for a "common basic curriculum that allows different students to prepare for different exams at the end without either multiple, separate streams throughout the high school or only one common narrow stream and one exam for everyone."

Thus the IB curriculum became the basic curriculum, accessible to diverse students in preparation for university in different countries. Frank Jayasinghe, KIS Principal at the time, served on the IBO Governing Council. Later, Peter Jenks, staff member, was the IB Representative for India from the late 1980's until 1993.

KIS hosted an IB Conference for the pilot school-based subject Science, Technology, and Social Change (STSC), which staff member Reiner Jungst helped to develop. STSC was offered for several years and was the most successful interdisciplinary course at KIS. KIS also offered a school-based Indian Studies course. Over the years, Economics, Business and Management courses have proved to be the most popular IB courses with KIS students.

The IB has provided KIS with an excellent and steady academic program, innovative pedagogy, a broadened service to the local community and an international orientation. KIS students consistently enter universities around the world, well-prepared by IB courses and extra-curricular learning to take their places in the world.
 
Useful Links:

www.ibo.org  - International Baccalaureate Organization