Shahani is the first Indian on IB council

In a rare honour, Indu Shahani, the principal of HR College has become the first ever Indian to sit on the Council of Foundation of International Baccalaureate (IB) Organisation. Though she joins as a vice-president, an honorary position, Shahani will be part of the governance body and will have a major role to play in the organisation’s strategy planning.

With 13 programmes focussing largely on practical work than theory, IB education has taken off in a big way across the world. This is thanks to the fact that the syllabus stresses on the concept of developing the all-round personalities of students.

As of now, India has 33 authorised IB schools, and 91 will come up soon. “The essence of IB is access, gravity and infrastructure. My endeavour in the coming months will be to ensure that the IB methodology is adopted and developed for municipal schools, and that teachers also receive proper training,” Shahani told DNA.

She cited the Akshara project run by students of the Mahindra United World College in Pune. These students have adopted a nearby village and teach children from municipal schools (those in Class V, VI and VII) subjects like English, Maths and Computers. Shahani said that the curriculum has been developed with a lot of effort and is very comprehensive. “Exam papers are sent for correction to teachers across the world. Even the learner’s profile on the IB website directs students to be competitive,” she added.