The International Baccalaureate (IB) programme has been known for more than 50 years and is implemented at more than 5,000 schools in more than 157 countries. It provides an internationally recognised secondary school diploma that’s also a diploma enabling direct enrolment in colleges worldwide, for the most famous and highest rated universities
Education System Crnjanski is specific in many ways, including the fact that enrolments are carried out yearround. Parents enrol their children in the international section of the programme upon returning from abroad, and they opt for the national programme when they want to change their environment and the approach to teaching and development in general.
What are the main characteristics and greatest qualities of the IB programme implemented at your school?
GM: They are, first and foremost, a comprehensive approach to the education and development of each pupil, encouraging the individual qualities and abilities of each pupil through the choice of subjects and programmes, learning on the basis of concepts that are mutually intertwined and complement one another in different subjects. We nurture critical reviews and re-examinations of that which is being learned or has already been mastered, teaching our pupils how to present and defend their own opinions in a well-argued, impartial and objective way, as well as accepting and respecting opposing opinions, and along with that we also devote great attention to developing their awareness, learning and consistent applying of the rules of academic integrity, as the basis of the personal honesty and integrity of each individual.
How many of your pupils go on to study abroad?
GM: Accomplishing the full diploma programme enables direct admission and enrolment in any university around the world. We can note with pride that members of our alumni include students who’ve successfully completed Yale, the London School of Economics, the University of Warwick, King’s College London, Central Saint Martins – University of the Arts, ETH Zurich, Bocconi and Erasmus, as well as other renowned and respected faculties worldwide. Usually around two-thirds of each generation, between 10 and 15 pupils, opt to study abroad after successfully completing the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP).
You apply a holistic teaching principle that is centred around the child and aims to develop lifelong learning models. Are you trying to educate future leaders who will change the world for the better?
GM: Precisely. Fundamentally, the IB philosophy of education aims to enable the intellectual development of the pupil, but also to encourage and nurture the development of their social and emotional skills, which will help the pupils to be able to respond to the many challenges of the modern world. This education programme, thus, develops an awareness within young people that they should use what they’ve learned to help improve the lives of others, and that through daily leadership they consciously choose to be a driving force for good around the whole world.
What is the goal of the parents who place their trust in you, apart from ensuring that their children receive the best possible education?
DIĐ: The motives among parents who choose to school their children in the Education System Crnjanski, which encompasses both primary and secondary school, certainly include – apart from the exceptional teaching staff and level of dedication – a sense of security and a climate in which cooperative relationships of respect are nurtured, between employees, pupils and parents, and among the pupils themselves. Parents often assess us as a “school with high demands”, but also a place where their children can – in the space of a “real school”, and in humane and dedicated relations – get the best education and properly prepare for the continuation of their education, but also for an independent and responsible life.