There is a growing demand in India for higher secondary schools offering quality International education at affordable price. Today parents are looking for a new system of education which is more interesting and less stressful.
The IB Diploma has earned universal reputation for rigorous assessment, giving students access to the top colleges and universities in India and the world. It is believed that IB programme is more practical and application-based. It has a broader spectrum of subjects that lead to all-round development.
A premier International school in Mumbai wanted to promote a higher secondary school offering IB-DP.
In-depth interviews were conducted both face to face and telephonically amongst parents with children in the 8th and 9th class to test the attractiveness of IB programme for class 11 & 12 (DP) proposed to be offered by the school.
The findings of the study showed that the key factors that influence the selection of a school are curriculum and board, track record, proximity to home, faculty, infrastructure, heritage value, to mention a few. There is a great deal of expectation and curiosity for the IB curriculum, but most of the parents were very satisfied with the schools in which their children were studying presently. Therefore, there is need for further communication about the holistic outlook of an IB curriculum and that it is more attuned with the needs of the present world.
These findings provided direction to the school management and identified action areas to further their ambition to set up the IB DP school program.