Gyeongbuk Office of Education (Superintendent Lim Jong-sik) announced on the 26th that ten elementary, middle, and high schools in the Gyeongbuk region were selected in the '2025 International Baccalaureate (IB) Candidate School Application'.
The International Baccalaureate (IB) program is an internationally accredited school education program developed and operated by the IB headquarters, a non-profit educational foundation based in Switzerland. It is characterized by a school education system that pursues self-directed growth of learners through concept understanding and inquiry-based learning activities based on competency-based curricula. Classes are centered on questions and discussions, and assessments are conducted in essay and written formats.
IB education is currently offered at over 6,000 IB World Schools in more than 160 countries worldwide. In Korea, the program was first introduced in 2019 when the Daegu and Jeju Offices of Education signed an MOC with the IBO, and currently, about 400 schools in 11 Offices of Education are preparing for or operating the IB program.
In this selection process, after fierce competition, Gyeongbuk saw the final selection of ten schools: three elementary schools (Andong Elementary School attached to Daegu National University of Education, Gumi Bonggok Elementary School, and Gumi Wondang Elementary School), five middle schools (Gyeongdeok Middle School in Andong, Dosong Middle School in Gumi, Dongsan Girls' Middle School in Yeongju, Cheongha Middle School in Pohang, and Hwarang Middle School in Gyeongju), and two high schools (Pohang Jecheol High School and Pungsan High School in Andong).
An IB school grows from being an IB Candidate School to a Candidate School, and finally to an Authorized School. It typically takes more than three years to become an IB Authorized School capable of delivering IB-based classes. In particular, IB Candidate Schools are those preparing for IB, sharing the IB philosophy, participating in teacher training and workshops to enhance professional competence, practicing question-based classes and improving essay and written assessments, and later applying to IB headquarters to become Candidate Schools.
The Gyeongbuk Office of Education plans to provide various support measures to ensure that the ten selected Candidate Schools can be certified as 'World Schools' after operating as Candidate Schools in the following years. These measures include strengthening teacher competency through IB Candidate School teacher training, operating teacher learning communities to enhance professional expertise, supporting visits to IB-related educational institutions and World Schools, and providing consulting for entry into Candidate and Authorized Schools.
Lim Jong-sik, Superintendent of the Gyeongbuk Office of Education, stated, "With the successful introduction of the International Baccalaureate (IB) program in Gyeongbuk, IB Candidate Schools have now been selected to lead its stable establishment." He added, "We will actively support IB Candidate Schools so that they can develop creativity, self-directedness, and learning ability to solve problems and respond proactively to new situations, thereby realizing the Gyeongbuk-style future curriculum."
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