Several high-ranking officials from the Geneva-based International Baccalaureate (IB) have arrived in the UAE for their governance meeting.

IB offers high quality programmes of international education to a worldwide community of schools.

The group of international education experts is led by Dr Monique Seefried, chair of the IB Board of Governors, and includes IB director general Jeffrey Beard and Andrew Bollington, the IB's regional director for Africa, Europe and Middle East.

The IB Board and senior management meet twice annually in key locations in order to discuss the strategic direction of the IB and meet with local schools and education officials.

The visit to Dubai will include visits to local IB World Schools such as the Dubai American Academy, Dubai International Academy and Emirates International School, and will culminate with the IB Community Dinner in Dubai on November 21 that will be held under the theme “International-mindedness and the Arabic-speaking world”.

Currently there are more than 663,000 IB students at 2,419 schools in 131 countries. They include students in 32 schools in the GCC region – 11 of them in the UAE, eight in Bahrain, six in Qatar, two in Kuwait, two in Oman and three in Saudi Arabia. Another 20 schools including 12 in the UAE have been designated “Candidate” status, which means they will have to pass an intensive and stringent process before becoming an “authorised” IB school.
 
The IB is unique in that it offers a continuum of education, consisting of three programmes – the Primary Years Programme (PYP), Middle Year Programme (MYP) and the Diploma Programme – for students aged 3 to 19. Schools that have been authorised to offer one or more programmes are known as “IB World Schools”. – TradeArabia News Service