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The International Baccalaureate aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect. To this end the organization works with schools, governments and international organizations to develop challenging programs of international education and rigorous assessment. These programs encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.
The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) is a Switzerland-based non-profit education foundation. It offers a two-year Diploma program for students in their final two years of higher secondary education. It aims at assisting affiliated schools in their endeavors to develop the individual aptitudes of young adults and to teach them to relate classroom experiences to real life situations. In a nutshell, IB students grow up to be critical thinkers, lifelong learners and self-regulated individuals.
At the core of the IB Diploma Programme (IBDP) lie three unique initiatives. These three components are outside the regular curriculum and are designed to allow students to portray the lessons learned inside the classroom on their own. It is these three initiatives that make IBDP students unique and sought after by the most prestigious universities in the world.
Over the course of the two-year program, students:
• Study six subjects chosen from the six subject groups.
• Complete an extended essay.
• Follow a theory of knowledge course (ToK).
• Participate in creativity, action, service (CAS) activities
Normally:
• Three of the six subjects are studied at higher level (courses representing 240 teaching hours).
• The remaining three subjects are studied at standard level (courses representing 150 teaching hours).
In order to earn a diploma, students normally select one subject from each group. [NOTE: Group VI is not required; students may select one extra subject from another group]. The subject selection is done based on the student’s future plans in consultation with the IB Coordinator and the Dean of Academics. The students must select three Higher Level subjects and three Standard Level subjects for a diploma.
Currently the school offers the following subjects in the IB program at the school. However, other subjects would be offered based on sufficient demand from students.
| Group | Subject | Level | |
| Group – I
(Language) |
English A1 | Higher Level | Standard Level |
| ............................................................................................................................................................... | |||
| Group – II
(2nd Language) |
French ab initio | ||
| French ab initio Hindi B | HL | SL | |
| ............................................................................................................................................................... | |||
| Group – III (Individuals & Societies) |
Economics | HL | SL |
| Business & Management | HL | SL | |
| ............................................................................................................................................................... | |||
| Group – IV (Experimental Sciences) |
Physics | HL | SL |
| Chemistry | HL | SL | |
| Biology | HL | SL | |
| Env Systems & Societies | SL | ||
| ............................................................................................................................................................... | |||
| Group – V (Mathematics) |
Mathematics | HL | SL |
| Mathematical Studies | SL | ||
| Computer Science | HL | ||
| Group – VI (Arts & Electives) |
Art | SL | |
Theory of Knowledge (ToK) : Theory of knowledge is a course designed to encourage each student to reflect on the nature of knowledge by critically examining different ways of knowing (perception, emotion, language and reason) and different kinds of knowledge (scientific, artistic, mathematical and historical). Class work in ToK focuses on questions about how one learns things, and what one considers knowledge. Students are introduced to the core ideals and central tenants of various academic disciplines. The core requirement of ToK is a 1,600 word essay which analyzes the meaning of knowledge and wisdom.
One unique aspect of the TOK course at SelaQui is a bi-monthly Sunday informal discussion. Students from both IB years meet informally to discuss a TOK topic chosen by the students themselves. Faculty members are involved as facilitators in the leaner-led discussion.
Creativity, Action, Service: CAS requires that students learn actively from the experience of performing real tasks beyond the classroom. Students can combine all three components or do activities related to each one of them separately.
Creativity can range from making a painting for display to designing a webpage.
Action involves the student in outdoor physical activity. With SelaQui being located in the foothills of the most beautiful mountain range in the world, our students are often taken for high altitude treks.
Service is included in the IB curriculum to sensitize the students towards the community life outside their school grounds.
Recent Creativity programs include:
• Maintaining the IB page on the web (www.ibselaqui.blogspot.com).
• Preparing posters and boards for the science department.
• Preparing clay models for display around the school grounds.
• Publishing a monthly school newsletter “I-Buzz”.
Recent Action Projects include:
• Scaling Nag Tibba peak ( height 10,000 feet)
• Trekking up Bhadraj Hill.
• “Cycling for a Cause”, an anti-drug cycling campaign.
• Participating in “Mountain Survival Course”.
• White-water rafting for a stretch of 14 kms down the Ganges at Rishikesh.
Recent service projects include:
• Assisting at a school for mentally challenged students.
• Planning and conducting a hygiene awareness workshop at SelaQui village.
• Teaching as volunteers at village level government primary schools during school vacations.
• Participating in the “School Cleanliness drive.”
Extended essay: Each student at the end of the IB program produces an essay of 4,000 words based on their independent research. This allows the student to delve deeply into a topic of their own choice within any subject area in which they are keenly interested. This research allows the student to get a taste of what it is like study a particular subject in depth at a university level.
