By Kang Shin-who

The government plans to introduce the International Baccalaureate (IB) program for both local and international schools.

Lim Seung-bin, general director at the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said Friday that the government plans to attract the IB organization to open a branch here.

“We are interested in the IB program and plan to hold discussions with the organization to set up a branch office here,” the high-ranking official told The Korea Times.

The IB offers three educational programs for children aged 3-19, and the organization, headquartered in Geneva, evaluates schools applying for the membership. More than 3,000 international schools around the world run the program.

In Korea, four of the 21 English-speaking foreign schools, including Gyeonggi Suwon International and the International School of Busan offer the international standardized curriculum. Currently, Gyeonggi Academy of Foreign Languages is preparing to adopt the program.

“We will strengthen the network with international education accrediting organizations and closely work with them to provide global education at schools here,” Lim added.

To that extent, the ministry has invited those from international accreditation agencies and held the “2010 Global Education Symposium,” at Hanyang University in Seoul on Aug. 25 and 26.

During the event, the ministry and related research institutes discussed how to prepare global education for local and international schools here along with experts from around the world.

Kim Jin-sook, a research fellow of the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation (KICE), said in her presentation, “Young students studying abroad, returning students and the increasing number of international schools reflect the need for a global standard.”

Michael David from the New England Associations of Schools and Colleges said that an English-only education doesn’t mean a global education. “Global education should be open not only to the limited number of children from wealthy families but to all students,” he added.

James Montoya, an official of the College Board, stressed collaboration between high schools and universities was the most important thing for a global standard education.

kswho@koreatimes.co.kr