In their daily work and in their private lives, citizens are increasingly looking beyond their country's borders. In secondary education, more pupils should be able to choose an international education option. A good start would be to allow the wider introduction of the international baccalaureate.
9 February 2006
Working and living together with speakers of other languages, exploring an overseas sales market, or keeping abreast of developments in your own areas of expertise: we are already increasingly looking beyond our own borders. Whether they enter the labour market in another country or at home, an international dimension is important for all pupils and students.
Open up the international baccalaureate programme
The Education Council would like to see more pupils in secondary education opting to follow a programme of international education. In the longer term, this could be achieved by introducing end-to-end international learning pathways in regular programmes. Until that time, the international baccalaureate could be opened up to pupils who want to give their learning an international dimension. Until now, this programme has only been open to children of parents with an international career, and who are in the Netherlands only for a short time. In this way, this IB could form a link in an end-to-end international learning path.
The IB is not suitable for all pupils. Schools need to select pupils: their language ability in English and Dutch should be good enough to ensure that an English-taught IB is a responsible choice, and that the pupil's knowledge of Dutch is secured. Another important selection criterion is the international context and motivation of pupils. An interview (together with parents) or written assignment, for instance, could be used by pupils to demonstrate that they want to follow an international career within an international organisation or a Dutch multinational, perhaps.