International Baccalaureate Programme in Russia

The emergence of interest in the International Baccalaureate programme in Russia at the end of 1980s is completely logical considering the highly productive reforms and quest for new educational models. However, the first school which received IBO authorization was the Anglo-American School in Moscow. That is, an educational institution not quite Russian, as its founders were the British and United States Embassies. A new stage began in 1995 when, during a visit to Moscow, the then Regional Director of the IBO for Northern and Eastern European countries, Monica Flodman, selected candidate schools for membership in the IB. They were Moscow High School 45 and the nongovernmental Moscow Economic School. In May 1996, these schools received authorization for the Diploma Programme (DP) and the Middle Years Programme (MYP). In November of that same year, the Ministry of Education issued a letter of compliance of IB programmes with Russian standards.

IBO-associated schools actively disseminated information about IB programmes, conducting seminars for teachers and administrators of Russian educational institutions. This activity motivated Moscow, Samara, and Togliatti schools, and in 1997 the regional IBO office conducted a seminar in the Moscow region for dozens of representatives from eight Russian schools. A Russian Federation regional office of IBO was opened and headed by Alexander Kondakov.

From 1997 to 2001, authorization was granted to Moscow schools "Premier” and Schools 1531 and 1634, the Samara Medical Technical Lyceum, the Togliatti city Comprehensive Center "School.” In June 2000, Perm held a seminar for teachers and administrators in the city with the support of the Municipal Committee for Science and Education. In January 2001, a conference was held in a Togliatti suburb, supported by the Ministry of Education and the educational departments of the Samara region, for Russian IBO schools, and attended by representatives of new regions, such as Perm. There was an open experimental platform in a number of areas, examining approaches for integrating Russian schools into the international educational space.

These IB achievements in Russia date back to 2002-2005: The first attempt to attain recognition of the IB diploma in Russia; authorization of the British International School in Moscow; and the start of a regional project in the Krasnoyarsk Territory.

From 2006 to 2008: establishment of the IB Schools Association of CIS countries; authorization of schools in St. Petersburg, Krasnoyarsk, Vladivostok, and Perm; start of implementation of the regional project "Establishment of International Baccalaureate Schools in the Perm Territory." And IB programme values and techniques were taken into account in the development of the new generation of government educational standards.


Despite the small number of IB schools in Russia, there is a growing interest among parents and students in the programme.

This is largely due to understanding the opportunities available to IB students around the world.

                                                                  The IB diploma holder:
 

Vital tasks for the Russian IB community are to promote its programmes within the country, and to address a number of serious challenges hindering expansion of its space in Russian regions.

Among them:

• Recognition of the IB diploma by Russian higher education institutions with the introduction of the transferable scales of IB-USE
• Recognition of the IB workshops in Russia for uniform professional staff development
• Resolving the status of Russian versions of IBO materials
• Implementation of regional projects
• Certification of staff resource centers in Russian regions
• Increased participation by Russian teachers and administrators in the structures of IBO.

Particularly important in this context is the implementation of regional projects, notably in the Perm region. Especially valuable in the framework of such a project is the interactive system of IB schools working in different regions of Russia, which in turn contributes to the formation of a unified educational space in our country.

IB schools today are educational institutions that not only offer high quality education, but are also capable within the educational process of stimulating age-appropriate models of solutions for managing social problems.

The feasibility and actuality of supporting these programmes is determined by:

• the need for education based on cultural and educational traditions of Russian schools; and the highest international standards of society’s intellectual, political, administrative and business elite, which recognizes its responsibility for the country’s state of affairs; and mastering modern approaches for solving socially important issues; and new techniques to manage the process of societal development, continuing Russia's transition to a civil society based on a combination of human values and the best national traditions;

• the objective need of Russian society to educate its young people with a sufficient amount of knowledge and skills (competencies) to live and work in today's interconnected, interdependent world; capable of a critical thinking and self-directed activities; aware of the complexities and contradictions of the modern world and able to find productive solutions to non-standard tasks of any complexity;

• the possibility to transmit standards, models and techniques of IB "tested" in Russia for 15 years, with recognized qualitative advantages over any national educational system;

• the need to expedite integration of Russian and international education, including the procedure for recognition of national certificate outside the CIS, and diplomas in Russia.