Mumbai: International schools must move beyond an “island-like” approach and engage more closely with local communities, said Olli-Pekka Heinonen, director general of the International Baccalaureate education board, amid criticism that IB students lack connection with their immediate social and cultural contexts. Speaking to TOI on the sidelines of a summit marking 50 years of IB in India recently, Heinonen said schools have a responsibility to build stronger links with the communities they operate in. “International schools operate within an island and need to engage with the community they are from and need to be responsible for them,” he said. On the shutdown of a BMC-run IB school in Vile Parle, Heinonen clarified that the decision was not taken by the IB, adding that the school was close to securing affiliation. “The shutdown of the government school was not our decision. The school was very close to gaining affiliation and we were very disappointed that it will not be continuing,” he said, adding that high costs of affiliation were cited by the BMC as one of the reasons for the school being shut down. Addressing the viability of IB in public education, he pointed to global examples, noting that Japan has over 200 government IB schools while Greece has recently added 13 government-run institutions. “There is a viable model for public education within the IB framework,” he said. On India’s transition from rote learning to competency-based education across all boards, Heinonen emphasised that reform must begin with teachers. He said teacher training should be the top priority, with educators needing to shift from traditional instruction to facilitating inquiry in classrooms. “Studies and research have shown that teachers learn best from other teachers, so there needs to be an exchange of best practices regularly,” said Heinonen.He also called for greater autonomy for educators, stressing the need to blend local teaching practices, cultural contexts with international pedagogies to make learning more effective.
