International Baccalaureate Teachers Meet at the Aga Khan Academy in Hyderabad

Over a hundred teachers from across India and from further afield gathered at the Academy in Hyderabad as part of an ongoing commitment by the Academy and the International Baccalaureate Organization (IB) to the professional development of teachers in the region.

The workshop was hosted in the newly opened (September 2012) Senior Academy.The Academy is an IB World School for the Diploma programme and one of only a few schools in India offering all three stages of the programme: the Primary Years Programme (for 3-12 year olds); the Middle Years Programme (11-16 year olds); and the IB Diploma for 16-19 year olds.

Mr. Puddefoot welcomed the participants to the workshop at the opening ceremony in the Academy Building, stressing the mission of the Academy as "open to all", regardless of their nationality, economic background or ethnicity.

This is the first IB workshop to be hosted by the Academy. The Aga Khan Academy hosts such professional development workshops as part of its mission to improve education generally, not only for its own teachers but also for other teachers in the region. 

The current workshops -- provided by the International Baccalaureate Organisation -- are designed to improve teaching and offer professional development opportunities to teachers in the IB system.  IB teachers are expected to complete the training on a periodic basis as part of a process of life-long learning. 

Students from the Academy were present to help participants find their way around the vast campus and to help when needed. They had also set up a small CAS store, selling handmade chocolates and candles to help fund their other CAS activities.

The thirteen workshops come only weeks after an agreement between the IB and the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) that equates the completion of the IB’s Middle Years Programme (MYP) with Grade 10 of an Indian Board assessment.

Students who have completed the MYP are now entitled to apply for admission for higher studies in any school or Junior College in India.